ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES. '^orn the Library oi Frank Simpson CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 1 Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality.' Ruskin. 1 Art is noble in itself. The Artist, therefore, is not afraid of the common-place, for his very touch ennobles it.' Goethe. • The whole world without art would be one great wilderness.' Samuel Butler. ' The beauty of nature reveals itself as but a reflection of the beauty which belongs to the mind. 5 Hegel. ' Fine Art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together.' .. Ruskin Royal Holloway College EGHAM CATALOGUE of PICTURES COMPILED BY C. W. CAREY, Curator THIRD EDITION, ENLARGED AND REVISED LONDON SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO, Ltd. Egham : BOX & GILLHAM 1896 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/catalogueofpictuOOcare PREFACE The formation of this collection of modern pictures was commenced by the late Mr. Thomas Holloway in i88i,two years before his death ; and it is due to the artistic judgment of his brother-in-law, wSir George Martin-Holloway, who personally undertook the purchase of these works, that the Royal Holloway College is now in possession of some of the finest examples of modern art. The present Picture Gallery was originally designed for the purpose of a Recreation Hall, the gift of pictures having been an after-thought on the part of Mr. Holloway, when it was too late to alter and improve the lighting of the Gallery. In compiling this Catalogue, it has been thought advisable to place the Biographical Notices at the end of the book, where they will be found in alphabetical order, leaving the Catalogue proper as free as possible from super- fluous matter. I desire to express my best thanks to Professor Baldwin Brown, of the University of Edinburgh, for kindly supplying me with the account of ' Erinna ' and the notice of Mr. H. S. Leifchild ; to Mr. Woods, of Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods, for information he has afforded me ; and to the Artists who have been good enough to send me notes in reference to their pictures. CHARLES W. CAREY. Abbreviations Explained. R.A. — Royal Academician. A. R. A. -Associate, Royal Academy. The numbers of the Pictures follow from left to right. The sizes of the Pictures are given in inches, the height being given first. The Picture Gallery is open to the Public on Thursday Afternoons, from 2 o'clock until Dusk throughout the rear ; and during the months of August and September, on Saturdays also during the same hours. No Orders of Admission are required, but visitors must write their names and addresses in a book provided for the purpose. Sticks, umbrellas, and parasols must be left outside in charge of an attendant. Governors' Orders of Admission to see the College are issued for the afternoons of Wednesdays. Applications for such Orders should be addressed to the Secretary. Visitors on arriving are requested to enter the Picture Gallery, and to remain there until the attendant is ready to take them to such parts of the building as are shown to the public, CATALOGUE. SCULPTURE. HENRY STORMONTH LEIFCHILD. Born 1824. Died 1884. Erinna. Presented to the Royal Holloway College by old pupils and friends of the sculptor. '"Erinna" is in some respects Mr. Leifchild's masterpiece, and exhibits at their best the characteristics of his art when employed, as he always sought to employ it, upon an ideal theme. It is a marble statue of the Greek poetess, representing her as sitting wearied out with labour at the distaff that has fallen from her grasp, while she holds on her knee a scroll, on which she has been inscribing the verses of the poem of the " Spindle." ' Erinna, the youthful poetess, who died at nineteen, but had written verses worthy of Homer, was a favourite figure among the later Greek critics and epigrammatists. The accounts which these give of her are not quite consistent, but the most trustworthy represent her as a contemporary and friend of Sappho, and as B 2 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE flourishing in the early part of the sixth century B.C. We learn further that about two centuries after her death the famous sculptor Naukydes made a statue of bronze in her honour. The following epigram in the Anthology gives the earliest account of Erinna which we possess, and is the basis of all subsequent notices. ' Erinna's Lesbian comb — how sweet, how small — Of Muses' honey is compacted all. This maid of nineteen years with Homer vies, Like Homer's her three hundred lines we prize. To web and spindle by her mother bound In thought the Muses' fellowship she found. By wSappho's art surpassed in lyric vein, Supreme o'er Sappho sounds her epic strain. ' Out of the facts here given there has been woven a beautiful tale, the idea of which has been embodied by the sculptor in his marble. According to some of our authorities, Erinna was a native of the small Dorian isle of Telos, near Cnidus, and wrote her poems in a partly Dorian dialect. Her parents seem to have settled in Lesbos, where flourished the brilliant literary society that surrounded the poetess Sappho. It was a coterie of /Eolian girls famous for their beauty of form and feature, and skilled to pour forth every ardent feeling of the soul in music and in verse. Linked together in common homage to her whom Alkoeos has called the " violet-crowned, pure, sweetly-smiling Sappho," they attracted to their company, from other parts of Hellas, gifted strangers who felt, like Erinna, the fire of poetic inspiration. But a Dorian mother might be pardoned if she experienced some reluctance to permit a daughter of hers to enter this charmed circle, and accordingly Erinna was detained at home at the recognised household tasks of the web and the distaff. There, chained, some pretended, to her seat, this girl of genius, who, as Ottfried Miiller says, "had as yet tasted the charm of existence in imagination alone," composed her poem of the " Spindle," containing 300 hexameter verses, "in which she probably expressed the restless and aspiring thoughts which crowded on her youthful mind as she pursued her monotonous work." There too, broken-hearted with fruitless longing, she died before her twentieth year. SCULPTURE 3 ' Several poetic fragments have come down to us under the name of Erinna, but their authorship is somewhat doubtful. One is beautiful enough to be worth quotation. It purports to be an epitaph composed by Erinna for the tombstone of a girl friend, possibly a member of the circle to which she herself by right belonged. 1 " Tablet and mourning shapes, and thou sad urn That hold'st for death the small white dust of me, Greet kindly all whose footsteps hither turn, Townsfolk or strangers — whosoe'er they be. I died a bride new-wed, this tell them too, Baukis my father called me, Tenos gave Me birth, and tell them, my companion true Erinna carved this legend o'er my grave. " 1 We possess no certain remains of the famous "Spindle " poem, but among the fragments of Sappho are two lines which have a possible reference to the lot of Erinna, and one of them — ' " No more, sweet mother, can I ply the loom," was at one time intended to be inscribed on the marble scroll which the sculptured figure holds upon her knee. ' Mr. Leifchild's design in the statue was to produce a work of sculpture thoroughly embued with the classical spirit, but touched, at the same time, with modern sentiment. The pathos of the fallen head and the relaxed and open hand, which gives the idea of utter weariness, is modern in feeling, while the composition and style of modelling are reminiscent of the antique. The composition should be studied from different points of view, and the contrast observed between the largely modelled torso and limbs and the more varied and broken lines of the drapery. The aim of such a work is to convey the highest possible impression of harmony and repose, in which ideal beauty, as understood by the Greeks, so largely consists.' G. B. B. ' " Erinna " was finished in i860, and is a broad and noble work. The friend of Sappho, like her a poetess, compelled by fate to un- congenial labour, she is traditionally believed to have died chained to her distaff. The high soul has left the beautiful figure as the head droops aside in death.' J. Sparkes, Magazine of 'Art, vol. 14. B 2 PICTURES. HENRY DAWSON. Born 1811. Died 1878. 1. — Sheerness, GuardsJiip saluting. See Footnote, page 80. Painted in 1875. Purchased at the sale of the artist's remaining works, at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', March 25, 1882, for the sum of ^577 10s. Signed and dated, 18 JQ)awson, 75. Canvas, 32 in. by 50 in. JAMES HOLLAND. Born 1800. Died 1870. 2. — Piazza dei Signori^ Verona; zvitJi the Market Place. 1 Many-towered Verona lives, like Venice, in the shadow of its great past ; a past beside which the interests and occupations of 6 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE to-day seem dwarfed into insignificance. . . . We speak of the one as the Queen of the Adriatic and by other graceful epithets, but none would think of addressing the other in the same gender, for the characteristics of Verona are distinctly masculine. Venice has the most picturesque past, but Verona reaches back to the imperial age, and its Roman arches still stand athwart busy streets, and cast deep shadows over nineteenth century men and women. . . . ' A close acquaintance with the impressive memorials of other days which abound in the dark shadowy streets and picturesque suburbs will reveal phases of Italian art which cannot be studied elsewhere. There are remains which Time's effacing finger has robbed of the element of beauty, though not of interest ; architecture and sculpture so full of massive strength that it seems as though it would last " Till the great winter lay the form and name Of this green earth with them for ever low." Verona well repays an extended study. It is good to live awhile among these fragments of history. And let it be in that beautiful time in Italy when spring shall blow her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and the early rains brighten the somewhat grim but noble old city. Flowers will then deck the mouldering wall, soft shadows sleep athwart the pale red and peach-blossom coloured marbles, and flowering weeds and fragrant creepers dress the time-stained courts and cloisters, and writhed pillars and shattered columns. . . . 6 Could one but stand in imagination about the year 1300 in the magnificent Campanile, which with projecting machicolations still rears its unbroken height of nearly 300 feet above the Piazza dei Signori, he would look down on one of the fairest scenes in mediaeval Italy.' Stephen Thompson, Magazine of Art, vol. 10. Exhibited at the Society of British Artists in 1844. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', July 9, 1 88 1, for the sum of ^913 10s. Formerly the property of the late Peter Potter, Esq., of Walsall. Signed and dated, J. Holland, Verona, 1844- Canvas, 40 in. by 30 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 7 CONSTANT TROYON. Born 1813. Died 1865. 3. — Evening, Driving Cattle. ' These sheep recall the charming and pithy criticism which Goethe passed in 1823 upon Roos, a German painter of sheep and cattle. " I am half frightened," said Goethe, "when I look at these beasts. Their state, so limited, dull, and dreaming, excites in me such sympathy, that I feel as if I might become a sheep, and as if the artist must have been one. How could he else enter so into the inmost character of these creatures ? for their very souls look through the bodies he has drawn. Here you see what great talent can do when it keeps to subjects which are congenial to its nature." . . . 6 Troyon's pictures, like those of Courbet, Diaz, Rousseau, and Millet, very plainly show the influence of Constable's grand naturalism and grey harmonious colouring.' W. Shaw- Sparrow, Magazine of Art, vol. 14. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^1,995. Formerly in the collection of William Lee, Esq. Signed, C. Troy on. Canvas, 26 in. by 32 in. JOHN MacWHIRTER, R.A. Born 1839. 4. — Night. ' Night, most glorious night, Thou wert not made for slumber.' Byron. ' In " Night" Mr. MacWhirter, taking Byron's lines, contradicts the truth of his quotation, by depicting a rock- bound coast washed by gentle waves, upon whose crests the moonshine dances and glitters. The scene is suggestive of a lullaby and sleep, not of love and Byronic insomnia. Magazine of Art : , vol. 14. 1 The rocks are at Corrie, Isle of Arran, but of course it was the glitter on the water that was my principal aim.' Exti-act from a letter by the Artist, Sept. 1887. 8 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1874. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods' May 13, 1882, for the sum of ^283 10s. Formerly in the Wyfold Court Gallery, in the col- lection of the late Edward Hermon, Esq., M.P. Signed, Mac Whirter. Canvas, 39 in. by 65 in. JOHN BAGNOLD BURGESS, R.A. Born 1830. 5. — Licensing the Beggars in Spain. i The custom of licensing the beggars, I believe, extends up to the present time in Seville, where my picture was studied. I made a lot of sketches of beggars there, and the room may be any sort of public room used for the purpose. A man to gain the licence is supposed to be unable to work ; they practise all sorts of deceits ; for instance, in the foreground of my picture a [blind ? ] beggar is looking with one eye on the gains of the day. . . . The magistrate and the priest are questioning the first beggar, whom they seem to suspect.' Extract from a letter by the Artist 1887. * In all the world there is no better painting country than Spain ; it is a painter's paradise, for it is rich in novelty, a mine of motives, a dream of colour and light, and romance and character. This picture gives a glimpse into all its conditions— social, religious, and picturesque. It is a clever and dashing representation of an assem- blage of professional mendicants, who, seeking the sanction of the law for the prosecution of their calling, put on the most impudent disguises, and lie themselves into a certificate with the easiest effrontery imaginable. Their only redeeming point is their indis- putable picturesqueness, and in this they offer a striking contrast to the confraternity in England, as depicted in the " Casuals " [No. 35 in this collection]. On the whole, too, they seem anything but dejected in spirits, and their company is the reverse of depressing. The applicant whose turn it is to face the official table wears a scarlet handkerchief round his head ; his body is draped in a long tattered shawl ; he has a crutch under his left arm ; he carries his left leg in CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 9 a sling ; his right hand on his heart, he makes an insinuating reverence to the arbiter of his fate. He flaunts a gallant rosary with a great crucifix attached, and he thus brings down the priest who stands behind the magistrate, and who is probably well aware that his parishioner's lameness is a mere matter of crutches and bandage. He is accompanied by a dog after his own heart, who is sitting on his hind quarters and presenting a tin saucer in his mouth. Toward the left side of the room a blind beggar is lifting up the corner of his bandage to see whence comes the sound of chinking money, which some of his neighbours are displaying to each other. A tatterdemalion, who is going out of the room, waves his licence with an air of triumph. Nor is a touch of pathos wanting in the motley. A sad-faced little girl, a tambourine player, is guiding her blind father, whose guitar, partially projecting from under his long faded cloak, stamps him a street musician. The various textures of material — tiled wall and floor, brass warming-pan, and bright green shutters — -are well rendered, and the perspective, always a difficult thing to manage, is particularly successful. This picture, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1876, contributed largely to Mr. Burgess's repu- tation, and he was shortly afterwards elected an Associate of the Royal Academy.' Charlotte J. Weeks, Magazine of Art, vol. 5. An illustration (woodcut) accompanies the article. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1876. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 28, 1883, for the sum of ^1,165 ioi". Formerly in the collection of Thomas Taylor, Esq., of Aston Rowant, by whom it was purchased from the artist. Canvas, 48 in. by 76 in. JOHN CROME (or OLD CROME). Born 1769. Died 1821. 6. — A Woodland Scene. Painted in 181 3. IO ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE Exhibited at the Royal Academy 1 Old Masters' ' Exhibition, 1875. Purchased from Messrs. Graves & Co., August 5, 1881, for the sum of ^550. Formerly in the collection of Fuller Maitland, Esq. Signed and dated, J. Cro/Jie, 1813. Panel, 31 in. by 48 in. EDWARD WILLIAM COOKE, R.A. Born 181 1. Died 1880. 7. — A Dutch Beurtman aground on the TerscJielling Sands. In the North Sea, after a snowstorm. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1865. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 13, 1882, for the sum of ^535 10^. Formerly in the collection of the late Edward Hermon, Esq., M.P. This picture was sold in the late Mr. Leafs sale for Signed — Kook. Canvas, 42 in. by 66 in. L. MUNTHE. 8. — Snow Scene. A grand Norwegian landscape, winter sunset, with men and boys fishing through holes in the ice. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 1 This sort of fishing upon the ice in winter is in Norway always done upon the Fjords and lakes.' Translated Extract from a letter by the Artist ', Jan. 29, 1892. Painted in 1873. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^451 10s. Formerly in the collection of William Lee, Esq. Signed and dated, L. Miinthe, 73. Canvas, 50 in. by 81 in. SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, R.A. Born 1829. 9. — Princess Elizabeth in prison at St. J antes'. £ This unexhibited and recently painted picture of Mr. Millais' represents an incident in the short and melancholy life of a daughter of Charles I. The Princess Elizabeth saw but 15 years, and more than half her days were passed in captivity. The artist has repre- sented her in the act of writing to implore the Parliamentary Commissioners that she might not be deprived of her faithful servants. Elizabeth did not survive her father by much more than a year. The Princess expired alone, on Sunday, September 8, 1650, "her pale cheek resting on the holy book, which told her God was near, though all forsook.'* 5 That precious book, her royal father's last gift, had been her companion and consolation through her weary, lonely captivity In addition to the sweet dignity and pathos of the young lady's face and attitude, and to the skill with which such details as, for example, the open books on the floor, are handled, this picture has an historical interest. The cabinet in the background belonged to Charles I. It was part of the furniture of " Theobald's," a fact unknown to Sir John Millais when he pur- chased the piece. An engraving and minute description, in an old English work on household furniture, proved that it is a relic of Charles. The silver statuettes on the niches were lost, but have been restored in conformity with the old engraving. " Born in the supremest fortune," says an old writer, " the passages of her life 12 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE were spent in beholding the Ruines of her Family, and the murther of her dear Father, whom she not long survived, but died in that same confinement to which they had treated his Majesty, in Caris- brooke Castle." ' — ' Notes on Sir J. E. Millais* Pictures at the Fine Art Society's Rooms' by Andrew Lang. ' The princess died in this place' (Carisbrook) * and, according to the charity of that time towards Cromwell, very many would have it believed to be by poison, of which there was no appearance, nor any proof ever after made of it.' Clarendon's ' History of the Rebellion J xiv. 86. Painted in 1879. Purchased, June 30, 1881, from the Fine Art Society for the sum of ^3,150. This picture was lent by the Trustees of the Royal Holloway College to the ' Millais ' Exhibition, at the Grosvenor Gallery, in 1885. Engraved by T. L. Atkinson. Signed and dated, 18 Sfe 79. Canvas, 57 in. by 40 in. BRITON RIVIERE, RA. Born 1840. 10. — An Anxious Moment. A number of geese passing through a passage, showing some consternation at an old hat lying in their path. ' This — like all the subjects I have painted — was thought of and noted down some years before it was painted. 5 Extract from a letter by the Artist, Sept. 1, 1887. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1878. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^1,732 10s. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 1 3 Formerly in the collection of William Lee, Esq. Signed and dated, B. Riviere, 1878. Canvas, 26 in. by 40 in. EDWIN LONG, R.A. Born 1829. Died 1891. 11. — The Suppliants. Expulsion of the Gypsies from Spain. Vide 6 Expulsion of Gypsies from Spain,' by Doctor Sancho de Moncada, Toledo, 16 19. ' "The Suppliants" was suggested by the writings of Pacheco, Secretary to the Holy Inquisition of Spain in 1624, which are pre- served in the archives of Simancas. It is the story of the intended expulsion of the gypsies in the reign of Philip III., a weak monarch, entirely under the influence of the priesthood, and especially of the Cardinal Gonzales. The gypsies in Spain have always been con- sidered a very degraded race ; they were at that time excommunicated, and consequently not allowed to enter a church. It is supposed that the edict of expulsion would have been carried out, as in the case of the Jews in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, but for the timely deputation which the picture attempts to represent, when the King and the cardinal were descending the steps of the Santa Annunciata in Valladolid, and for the compassionate intervention of the young Queen, who may be seen in the corridor above The historical portraits were studied in the gallery at Madrid, and the gypsies were all painted from the probable descendants of the Sup- pliants themselves living near Granada in 187 1.' Extract front a tetter by the Artist, Sept. 14, 1887. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1872. Purchased, with the copyright, at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 13, 1882, for the sum of .£4,305- 14 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Formerly in the Wyfold Court Gallery, in the posses- sion of the late Edward Hermon, Esq., M.P. Signed and dated, Edwin Long, 1872. Canvas, 72 in. by 113 in. CLARKSON STANFIELD, R.A. Born 1793. ^i e( l 1867. 12. — Viezv of the Picdu Midi d'Ossau, in the Pyrenees, with brigands. < The " Pic du Midi " and " The Battle of Roveredo " (No. 44 in this collection) are said to be Stanfield's greatest landscapes ; Mr. Coleman gave for this picture at the Bicknell sale ,£2,550.' The Times, May 30, 1881. 1 Some mystery seems to envelop the destination of these celebrated pictures — they are allotted by one report to an English banker, and by another to an American millionaire. There are patriotic Englishmen who will, on account of the loss to their country, mourn, should the rumour of this transportation to the United States be authenticated These pictures were, in fact, purchased by Mr. Holloway in the name of Mr. Thomas, which was con- sidered a nom de guerre, and created considerable excitement.' The Times, May 31, 1881. ' This is a large upright picture, presenting a view of the lofty granite peak enveloped in snow. It is winter, and the lower and practicable parts of the scene are still covered with snow, and higher up, above the upper plateau, the masses are veiled in clouds. The remoter portions of the composition are contrasted with a very solid section of foreground overhanging the road, and here a troop of brigands have posted themselves to watch the approach of travellers. An imposing subject, carried out with appropriate feeling.' Art Journal, 1854. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1854. Painted for the late Elhanan Bicknell, Esq. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES I 5 Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 28, 1881, for the sum of ,£2,677 10s. Formerly in the collection of E. J. Coleman, Esq., of Stoke Park. Canvas, 84 in. by 60 in. EDWIN LONG, R.A. Born 1829. Died 1891. 13. — The Babylonian Marriage Market. ' Herodotus records one of their customs, which, whether in jest or earnest, he declares to be the wisest he ever heard of. This was their wife-auction, by which they managed to find husbands for all their young women. The greatest beauty was put up first, and knocked down to the highest bidder ; then the next in the order of comeliness — and so on to the damsel who was equidistant between beauty and plainness, who was given away gratis. Then the least plain was put up, and knocked down to the gallant who would marry her for the smallest consideration — and so on till even the plainest was got rid of to some cynical worthy, who decidedly preferred lucre to looks. By transferring to the scale of the ill-favoured the prices paid for the fair, beauty was made to endow ugliness, and the rich man's taste was the poor man's gain.' ' Herodotus,' by George C. Swayne, M.A. * The chief landmark in Mr. Long's career is undoubtedly " The Babylonian Marriage Market," and the painting of it came about in this wise. Fired in his imagination by the types to which he had been devoting himself, and ambitious of producing a work more important than any he had yet painted, he set about the study of ancient history, so that he might combine Art and Archaeology in a more thorough manner than he or others were at the time attempting. * In 1873, while reading Mr. Swayne' s "Herodotus," he was struck by the description of the ingenious process whereby the Babylonians procured husbands for their maidens, and caused the bidder for the beauty to pay the dowry of his bid to the receiver of the plain. This subject, hitherto pictorially untouched, was difficult of realisa- tion. It was so full of promise that the artist clung to it for a couple If) ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE of years or so without being able all the time to realise the composition of the scene. Suddenly, one night, whilst playing whist, as I have heard him tell, the whole picture, much as it stands now, with the figures of the maidens all in a row, flashed across his mind, and he could hardly sleep that night for the eagerness with which he waited for the morning. 6 Its success, as everybody knows, was of the most striking kind. Mr. Ruskin in his " Academy Notes" declared it a picture of rare merit, and curiously suggested that it was 4 'well-deserving of purchase by the Anthropological Society." This Society, having in all proba- bility no funds at its disposal for the purpose named, did not accept the proposition, but the Royal Academy welcomed the artist into its outer fold on the strength of the picture, the extreme subtlety of character and absence of affectation in which had charmed the Grand Old Critic. 5 M. H. Spielmann, The Graphic, June 9, 1888. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1875. The artist is said to have received 1,700 guineas for this picture. — Vide The Artist, June, 1882. Purchased, with the copyright, at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 13, 1882, for the sum of £6,615. Formerly in the collection of the late Edward Hermon, Esq., M.P., of Wyfold Court. This picture was lent by the Governors of the Royal Holloway College to the Manchester Jubilee Ex- hibition, 1887. A photogravure of this picture was published by the Fine Art Society in 1889. Signed and dated, Edwi)i Long, 1875, Canvas, 68 in. by 120 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 17 SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, R.A. Born 1829. 14. — The Princes in the Tozver. 4 The background was painted from a sketch made in the Tower of London at the foot of the staircase where, in the reign of Charles II. , the bones of two youths were discovered.' Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings, Edited by J. D. Champlin, Jr. ' The Princes in the Tower, Edward V. and Richard, are the sons of Edward IV. , and are supposed to be waiting on a staircase for the approach of a murderer or a rescuer. In this work the attitudes of the two boys are exceedingly graceful and well composed, while their expression of terrified expectation could not well be bettered. But the topic is almost too melancholy, even if we suppose that Richard escaped — to become Perkin Warbeck. Intone and subject the work is a pendant to the Princess Elizabeth.' Notes on Sir J. E. Millais* Pictures at the Fine Art Society 3 s Rooms, by Andrew Lang. Miss White, who sat for c The White Cockade,' married a Mr. Davis, and her two sons were the models for the above picture of the two Princes. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1878. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 28, 1881, for the sum of ^3,990. This picture has been engraved by Lumb Stocks, R.A., and also in mezzotint by the late Samuel Cousins, R.A. This picture was lent by the Trustees of the Royal Holloway College to the ' Millais ' Exhibition at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1885. Signed and dated, 18 78. Canvas, 58 in. by 36 in. C i8 ROYAL HOLLOW AY COLLEGE JOHN EVAN HODGSON, R.A. Born 1 83 1. 15. — Relatives in bond. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1877. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 28, 1883, for the sum of ^556 10s. Formerly in Mr. Thomas Taylor's Gallery, at Aston Rowant, by whom it was purchased from the Artist. Signed and dated, J. E. Hodgson, 1877. Panel, 37 in. by 26 in. BENJAMIN WILLIAMS LEADER, A. R.A. Born 1 83 1. 16. — Unterseen, Interlaken ; Autumn in Switzerland. ' It was painted from studies made in the autumn of 1876. It is an unusual subject for me, but I was struck with the picturesque old buildings, and thought they would make a good picture. ' The picture was painted for Messrs. Agnew & Sons.' Extract from a letter by the Artist, June 3, 1888. Painted in 1878. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^357. Formerly in the collection of William Lee, Esq. Signed and dated, B. IV. Leader, 1878. Canvas, 34 in, by 48 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 19 FRANK HOLL, R.A. Born 1845. Died 1888. 17. — Newgate. — Committed for Trial. ' It is the part of Newgate prison called the cage, in which prisoners whilst on trial are permitted at certain hours, and on certain days, to see their friends — on the inner side the prisoners are placed, when their relations or friends are at once brought out. A warder walks between the two gratings, who can hear and see everything that takes place between the friend and prisoner. It is particularly im- pressive, for scenes of great pathos and agony of mind on both sides take place I witnessed this scene some years before I painted the picture, visiting the prison through the interest of the then Governor (Mr. Sidney Smith), and I shall never forget the impression it made upon me. Prisoners for all sorts of crimes were there, the lowest brutal criminal, swindlers, forgers, and boy thieves, all caged together, awaiting the results of their separate trials, and, in one or two cases, the misery of their friends in seeing them in their hopeless condition fell but lightly on their brains dulled by incessant crime.' — Extract f?'om a letter by the Artist \ Sept. I, 1887. ' The propositions which are put forward that a subject is to be condemned for its sadness is untenable, as any principle must needs be which would involve the irreparable loss to the world of all the tragedies in all the arts, and which, moreover, would divorce art from truth, and also from the deepest capacities of human nature. The one thing needful is that sadness in painting should be a sincerity — that it should be real in feeling, and not caught on the end of the pencil, or produced as a cheap and almost ready-made effective- ness. It is notoriously easy to move a certain amount of not very valuable feeling in the public by the merest sentimentality ; all the more precious is the real emotion evoked by real power. The difference between the sham and the true in melancholy art of all kinds is always utterly unmistakable — too subtle to define, yet clear to the apprehension. Action is eloquent of it — the turn of a head, the meaning of a hand, sealing a picture irrevocably as sincere or insincere.' Wilfred Meynell, Magazine of Art, vol. 3. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1878. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson and Woods', May 13, 1882, for the sum of ^808 \os. c 2 20 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Formerly in the possession of the late Edward Hermon, Esq., M.P., of Wyfold Court. This picture was lent in 1889 by the Governors of the Royal Holloway College to the Burlington House Exhibition of Frank Holl's Works, after his death. Signed and dated, Frank Ho//, 1878. Canvas, 60 in. by 83 in. HENRY T. DAWSON. 18. — Salcombe Estuary, South Devon. Painted in 1882. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', March 25, 1882, at the sale of the late Henry Dawson's remaining works, for the sum of ^152 5^. Signed and dated, ^ awson, 1882. Canvas, 30 in. by 42 in. PETER GRAHAM, R.A. Born 1836. , 19. — A High/and Croft. ' In the Highlands of Scotland the harvest is usually late, and as a rule got in with difficulty, owing to the rainy weather in autumn. The stacks of corn are small compared to English stacks, and blankets and coverings of any kind are used to protect them till there is time to thatch them.' Extract from a letter by the Artist^ Sept. 16, 1887. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1873. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 21 Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^630. Formerly in the collections of Baron Albert Grant, and William Lee, Esq. Signed and dated, Peter Graham, 1873. On Canvas, 48 in. by 72 in. WILLIAM POWELL FRITH, R.A. (Retired). Born 18 19. 20. — The Raihvay Station. ' The group of children in the foreground — boys going to school — were portraits of my own family ; the father being painted from myself. The two police officers arresting the man who is about to step into the train are portraits of two well-known detectives, Messrs. Brett and Haydon.' Extract from a letter by the Artist \ Sept. I, 1887. 1 The scene is under the vast roof of the Great Western Station, whose neutral-toned roofing, with the far-reaching straight lines of the side girders, and the rectilinear forms of the carriages, ludicrously broken by the luggage on their roofs, are used to support and balance the serpentine line of the groups below, along which, notwithstanding the number of the figures, the eye is pleasantly and distinctly guided by the judicious distribution of light and colour. From right to left, we have a series of groups, each distinct in its occupation and character, but combined with most felicitous skill and judgment. Following them in their order, we have, first, the arrest of a Robson or Redpath by detectives, as the fugitive has his foot on the step of the carriage that he hoped would bear him to safety. His face is cadaverous with the shock of the detective's sudden hand on his shoulder ; his paralysed fingers have let fall his travelling bag ; his wife, haggard with long suffering, looks on in agony from the carriage, in which an old traveller has ensconced himself, and, absorbed in his newspaper, does not even notice the tragedy at his elbow. The detectives are portraits (Messrs. Brett and Haydon), and perfectly natural and unstagy in action and expression. By the side of this incident is the parting of a fair and happy bride from her bridesmaids 22 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE — her hand on the arm of a handsome young husband, who turns to give directions to a servant about a jewel case. The bride's child- sister sobs, refusing to "be comforted by a smiling maid and a sympathetic little brother. The beauty and festive brilliancy of this group lends intensity to the ghastliness of the arrest and its circum- stances. Then comes a recruiting sergeant, carrying down his batch of recruits to the depot, and merrily kissing his baby as he bids his jolly wife good-bye for the day. Among his recruits is a London blackguard, with an admirably expressed struggle of emotion in his ugly face, while a decent widowed old mother cries on his shoulder. More in the foreground a British cabman is indignantly remonstrat- ing with a helpless foreigner, whose fair-haired voluble wife has taken the work of resistance out of her husband's hands, and answers British insolence with shrill Southern volubility and gesticulation. Near them is an English Mama, giving the last hug to her little schoolboy, whom Paterfamilias is taking to school, with his elder brother — too much of a man to give way quite, and struggling to gulp down tears which will force their passage in spite of the manhood of 14. A luggage truck cleaves the crowd, impelled by a sturdy porter, and followed by an overblown matron, in all the unnecessary fuss of one of that troublesome class which always insists on being too late, followed by her husband, weak of mind for all his brawn and beef, who lugs along a lubberly boy, with a birdcage. More in the back- ground are men of-war's men, bound for Plymouth or Portsmouth ; a young officer with his wife (who will accompany him to the last), bidding adieu to her mother ; a married tar, masking his grief at parting with his red -eyed mournful wife, by a garrulous good-bye to their baby, while his comrade calls him to the carriage. The contrast of this bitter parting with the sergeant's light-hearted one is per- fectly and subtly expressed. On the left, in the foreground corner of the composition, a gamekeeper is coupling a brace of setters ; an old lady is pleading hard with a porter, stern in the sense of duty, but civil withal, for leave to carry her Maltese terrier with her into the carriage - a plea which neither her ladylike importunity nor her daughter's earnest eyes can carry with the stern young porter. In the middle distance a jolly Londoner, rod in hand, bound for Maiden- head or Great Marlow, hurries to his place, thinking of nothing but his sport. Further in the distance, a shabby-genteel old father gives a few last words of counsel to a girl starting on service ; a feeble old gentleman totters along on the arm of his daughter ; a bookworm, his nose buried in the volume he has just bought, hurries along, regard- less whom he may jostle ; a light-hearted tar shakes hands, laughing, with his " old woman," and in the far distance, an amateur of steam and steam engines discusses the points of the engine with the stalwart CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 23 driver. Volunteers, with their rifles, chat over points and sights ; groups are exchanging good-byes, light or heavy, of love, kindred, or acquaintanceship, at and about the carriage doors. Overhead are seen the puffs of steam from the in-train which is arriving on the other side of the station.' — The Times, April 19, 1862. ' k Mr. Flatow bought this picture from the artist, paying ^4,500 for the picture and copyright and £7$o for the separate exhibition of the picture. 5 Vide ' My Autobiography and Reminiscences J by ' W P. Frith, R.A. ' This most important work has been since purchased by Messrs. Graves & Co. for the sum of ,£16,000, they having to pay for the engraving, which brings the total cost up to £20, 000. 5 'Notes 07i the Railway Station by Tom Taylor, Esq., M.A., published by Messrs. Graves 6° Co., 1865. Painted in 1862. Exhibited at the International Exhibition, Paris, 1878. Purchased April 16, 1883, of Messrs. Graves & Co., for the sum of ^2,000. Engraved by the late Mr. Francis Holl, A. R.A. Signed and dated, W. P. Frith fee 1 -, 1862. Canvas, 46 in. by 10 ] in. BENJAMIN WILLIAMS LEADER, A. R.A. Born 1 83 1. 21. — The Rocky Bed of a Welsh River. < " The Rocky Bed of a Welsh River " was painted for Mr. T. F. Walker, of Birmingham. It is a view on the river Llugy, at Bettws y Coed, and was painted on the spot. I was there in the company of Sir Robert Collier, afterwards Lord Monkswell, and we painted the same subject together. The river is low in the picture ; after rain a foaming torrent covers the whole of the rocks, and the subject is entirely changed.' Extract from a letter by the Artist, June 3, 1888. 24 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE 4 It is the dry season, and the Llugy scampers playfully over huge lichen-covered boulders ; in the distance rise the woody hills round Bettws y Coed ; and a number of gaunt fir-trees add a deep note of colour to the foreground on the right. Mr. Leader has caught the dejected character of these trees with much apparent facility. As they stretch out their lean branches horizontally, they seem almost to yawn from weariness and fatigue.' W. Shaw-Sparrow, Magazine of Art, vol. 14. Painted in 1874, and exhibited at the Birmingham Society of Artists. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^283 10s. Formerly in the possession of T. F. Walker, Esq. Signed and dated, £. W, Leader, 187 ^ Canvas, 48 in. by 36 in. THOMAS FAED, R.A. Born 1826. 22. — Taking Rest. Painted in 1858. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods' May 13, 1882, for the sum of ^745 10s. Formerly in the possession of the late J. Farnworth, Esq., and afterwards of the late Edward Hermon, Esq., M.P. Signed and dated, T. Faed, 1858. Canvas, 33 in. by 25 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 25 DAVID ROBERTS, R.A. Born 1796. Died 1864. 23. — A Street in Caii'o. Painted in 1846, and exhibited at the Royal Academy. Bought by Mr, E. Bicknell from the artist for '^52 icxr., and sold by him in 1863 for ^530 $s. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 28, 1883, for the sum of ^745 ioi\ Formerly in the possession of Thomas Taylor, Esq.,. of Aston Rowant. Signed and dated, David Roberts, R.A., 1846. Canvas, 30 in. by 25 in. ABRAHAM SOLOMON. Born 1824. Died 1862. 24. — Departure of the Diligence, Biarritz. The last work of the artist. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 5, 1883, for the sum of ^451 10s. Signed, Canvas, 35 in. by 50 in. ERSKINE NICOL, A. R.A. (Retired). Bom 1825. 25. — The Missing Boat. 4 The missing boat is only visible to the people on the old quay, where the wife and mother is straining every nerve to catch a glimpse 26 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE of it, and recognise, if she can, her husband's craft, which, with the hardy old fisherman pointing in the direction of the distant sail, makes up the subject. It is just one of those incidents not infrequent upon our wild western shores. 5 Extract from a letter by the Artist, Sept. 12, 1887. Exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1876. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^703 10s. From the collection of T. F. Walker, Esq. Signed and dated, E. Nicol, 1876. Canvas, 34 in. by 46 in. J. H. S. MANN. Died 1886. 26. — The Cauld Blast. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1876. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 13, 1882, for the sum of ^152 5^. Formerly in the collection of the late Edward Hermon, Esq., M.P., of Wyfold Court. Signed and dated,/. H. S. Mann, 1876. Canvas, 36 in. by 24 in. JAMES HARDY. 27. — A Young Gillie, zvith setters and dead game. Painted in 1877. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^204 15^. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 27 Formerly in the collection of William Lee, Esq. Signed and dated, J. Hardy \ /77. Canvas, 28 in. by 39 in. JAMES BARKER PYNE. Born 1800. Died 1870. 28. — Hazvesivater, from Waller Gill Force. In Westmoreland, South-East of Ulleswater. Painted in 1850, for Mr. Agnew, of Manchester. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', July 9, 1881, for the sum of ^273. Formerly the property of the late William Sharp, Esq., of Endwood Court, near Birmingham. Engraved in the English Lake Series. Signed and dated, / B. Pyne, 1850. No. 321. Canvas, 33 in. by 44 in. DANIEL MACLISE, R.A. Born 181 1. Died 1870. 29. — Peter the Great at Deptford Dockyard. i Peter the Great, Czar of Muscovy, working as a shipwright, with his " rough retinue," in the dockyard at Deptford, during the winter of 1697-8, is visited by William III., in attendance on whom are Lords Carmarthen and Shrewsbury, his President of Council, and Foreign Secretary. ' He (the Czar) is mechanically turned, and seems more designed by nature to be a ship-carpenter than a great prince. This was his chief study and exercise while he stayed here. He wrought much with his own hands, and made all about him work at the models of ships.' — Bishop Burnet's * History of his Own Time.' 28 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE 'Among those ordinarily * 4 about him " while thus or otherwise occupied during his three months' stay in England, the memoir writers of the time particularise as fellow- workmen in the dockyard : MenzikorT, Golownin, Galatzin, and Prince Siberski, the latter of whom was noted for his " skill to rig a ship from top to bottom. " They are careful to mention as hardly less familiar companions, a dwarf, a negro boy, a monkey (who, by excessive familiarity, caused some alarm to King William on one of his later visits to Deptford), and a young actress of Drury Lane. 4 In St. Petersburg are still kept the coarse woollen stockings and snilor's coat in which he worked, and the " Annual Register" of 1769 preserves the testimony of an old man, a Deptford shipwright in those days, who remembered well hearing his father say forty years before, that " the Czar of Muscovy worked with his own hands as hard as any man in the yard." ' — Royal Academy Catalogue, 1857. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1857. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 5, 1883, for the sum of ^388 \os. Formerly in the collection of the late Henry Woods, Esq. Canvas, 60 in. by 96 in. THOMAS CRESWICK, R.A. Born 181 1. Died 1869. 30. — The First Glimpse of the Sea. ( In the immediate foreground of this composition flows a tiny rill, so small as to be lost here and there behind the stones and rushes that lie in its droughty course — a most valuable association, when properly adjusted. , A few spoonfuls of water thus operating on those stones, 11011 vised scepe fulgendo, give them an inestimable value. The force of the picture lies in the foreground ; in the right the ground rises, and we find there a mill and a cottage. The middle distance is luxuriant with foliage, and lighted by the reflection of a winding river ; and in the far horizon is seen the sea, bright with the rays of the sun.' — Art Journal, 1850. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 2 9 Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850, and at the South Kensington Exhibition of the collected works of the artist. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^1,312 10s. Formerly in the collections of Baron Albert Grant, and William Lee, Esq. Signed and dated, T. Creswick, 1850. Canvas, 40 in. by 60 in. JOHN SYER. Born 1815. Died 1885. 31. — Welsh Drovers. Painted in 1878, for the late Horace Woodward, Esq. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 29, 1882, for the sum of^i57 10s. Signed and dated, Syer, /78. Canvas, 32 in. by 48 in. LUKE FILDES, R.A. Born 1844. 32. — Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward. ' The summer of 1869 was a great year for Mr. Luke Fildes. One night Mr. Thomas confided to him a scheme he had for a new illus- trated weekly newspaper. He was the first spoken toon the subject. He was asked to draw something. ' " What?" the artist asked. 30 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE '"Anything you like," replied Mr. Thomas, <£ as long as it's effective and a good drawing." e " I went home — I hadn't a studio then," said Mr. Fildes. " It was a terribly hot night when at ten o'clock I sat down with a piece of paper and scribbled out the idea for * The Casuals. ' Some few years before, when I first came to London, I was very fond of wan- dering about, and never shall I forget seeing somewhere near the Portland Road, one snowy winter's night, the applicants for admission to a casual ward. It lived in my mind, and as I sat there in my room I tried to reproduce it. I believe that very night was my turning point — everything dated from that. On December 4, 1869, the first number of the Graphic appeared, and in it was a full-page drawing of ' Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward.' " * Mr. Fildes always had a leaning towards " The Casuals," and in 1874 he painted it. The picture is so well known it hardly needs description — the mud and slush of the street, the suggested fog, the drunken loafer, the ruffian "who wants work, but wouldn't do it," the long, thin youth in the background, the sham soldier, the wife and husband cuddling up their children, the widow hastening along, the policeman, and the bitter sarcasm of the "notices" — posted im- mediately above the poor fellow who holds his little one so tightly to him — of " Child Deserted, £2 Reward;" and "Lost, a Pug Dog, £20 Reward ! " But what stories the artist has to tell of his models for that remarkable work ! ' " I used to go out night after night," said Mr. Fildes, " and seek for types. I visited the various casual wards, and soon got to know the inspectors. If I saw anybody who took my fancy I gave him my card, and asked him to come round after he had picked his oakum. You notice that fellow with his head bent down in the picture ? He came to see me one morning wringing wet, and after sitting for a few minutes in the hall he was surrounded by a pool of water ! Some of these people I had to stand in my studio on brown paper, and put disinfectants round them. The drunkard — that fellow with his hands thrust deep into his pockets — was a perfect character. He would not sit to me without a quart pot by his side, which I had to keep continually filled. One day he said to me, < What this country wants is a good war— that's what it wants ! ' ' Why ? ' I asked. 1 Why,' he answered contemptuously, as he took another pull from the pot, "cos it 'ud stir up trade.' 6 What is your trade?' I questioned. ' I'm a army accoutrement maker ! ' ' " The policeman I borrowed from Bow Street. The long thin lad at the back, whom I found in a casual ward, was a stowaway. He CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 3> was a lad of sixteen, and six feet high. lie had tramped everywhere, lie stowed himself away on a boat going to America, was discovered, flogged, transhipped on another boat, pitched ashore at Liverpool, walked to London, and slept in the parks till I came across him. One of these fellows walked up and down outside my house all night, so that he shouldn't be late in the morning ! How he escaped the police is a mystery." 1 " The Casuals " created a great sensation. It made a wonderful impression. Nothing at once so dramatic and real had been seen for years, and the status of Mr. Luke Fildes arose at a bound.' The Strand Magazine y vol. 6. ' There was no doubt about " Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward" — it was simply the picture of the year at Burlington House. Whatever the work lacked in mere executive skill was more than atoned for by the nobility and power of the genius which it displayed, that genius to which I venture to refer as Dickensian — and here is a confirmatory anecdote. Mr. John Forster, while this picture was in progress, was writing the " Life of Dickens,'' and it happened at the same time that he had some intercourse with Mr. Fildes. One day the painter was telling the biographer about the work he was engaged on, when the latter produced a letter from his deceased friend in which occurred a passage describing some " Casuals " as Dickens had seen them somewhere " down Whitechapel way." " Why," cried Mr. Fildes, ' ' those words absolutely represent my subject. May I quote them ? " " Assuredly," was the answer, " they will be public property by the time your picture is before the world." Thus it was that in the catalogue we found against our artist's canvas the pungent and appropriate lines, " Dumb, wet, silent horrors ! Sphinxes setupagainst that dead wall, and none likely to be at the pains of solving them until the general overthrow." 1 Upon this, fatuous people concluded that the picture had been suggested by the biography, and that, tempted by his success with " Edwin Drood," the artist was further displaying his aptitude for illustrating the great author ; whereas the circumstance only showed how the two minds, independently of each other, had been similarly impressed by the terrible spectacle.' W. W. Fenn, Magazine of Art, vol. 3. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1874, and at the International Exhibition, Paris, 1878. Purchased, with the copyright, at Messrs. Christie, 1 Charles Dickens. — Extract from a letter in 3rd Vol. of Forster's Life of Dickens. ROYAL HOLLOW AY COLLEGE Manson & Woods', April 28, 1883, for the sum of ^2,100. Formerly in Mr. Thomas Taylor's Gallery, at Aston Rowant. This picture was lent to the Corporation of London for Exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery in 1892. The original drawing of this picture was made in June, 1869, and published in The Graphic in December of that year. Signed and dated, Luke Fildes, 187 If. Canvas, 54 in. by 96 in. * » 1 The lonely wand'rer under other skies Thinks on the happy fields he may not see ; The home enfolding landscape seems to rise With sunlight on the lea. ' And musing on the scenes unloved till now, But grown so dear he never can forget, He feels how pleasures past will ever grow Dearer in grim regret.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1861. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 28, 1881, for the sum of ^2,100. Formerly in the collection of the late John Marshall, Esq., of Great Barr, Staffordshire. Signed, Thos. Creswick. Canvas, 45 in. by 72 in. 33. — Trentside. Horace Smith. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 33 JOHN CALLCOTT HORSLEY, R.A. Born 1817. 34. — The Banker s Private Room; Negociating a Loan. ( Painters are often asked, " How do you think of your subjects ? " A question generally difficult, and often impossible to answer, but on this head and respecting the picture in question, I can, as it happens, give a very explicit account. ' One day, wishing to speak to the manager of the Bank I deal with, I passed through the office to the door of his private room, which, being a glass one, I could see through without opening it, and my attention was at once arrested by observing my old friend — a staid Scotchman — sitting at his desk just in the action of the picture, with an expression of doubt and hesitation on his face, whilst before him was a lady, with papers around her on the table, leaning forward and apparently stating her case with much earnest- ness. I could not see her face, but the momentary glance I had of the lines of her figure, and handsome garments, suggested the presence of a decidedly fine woman. Though I had grasped the door-handle, I immediately felt that my entrance might be an un- desired intrusion, so turned away and interviewed the manager another day. But before I got outside the Bank I was filled with the idea that I had seen an excellent subject for a picture, and ere I reached Oxford Street from Stratford Place I saw the completed work (much as I have painted it) "in my mind's eye!" It is doubtless from the observant nature of artists, brought to bear upon such accidental circumstances as those I have described, that painters who prefer evolving their themes from their own inner consciousness to illustrating those of literary record or invention, are suddenly inspired with "ideas;" but it is, I imagine, not often that so succinct an account can be given of such an impression, as the above.' Extract from a letter by the Artist, June 18, 1888. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1870. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & ^Yoods , , April 28, 1883, for the sum of ^850 io;. Formerly in the Aston Rowant Gallery, belonging to Thomas Taylor, Esq. D 34 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE This picture was lent by the Governors of the Royal Holloway College to the Manchester Jubilee Exhibition in 1887. Signed and dated, / C. Horsley, 1870. Canvas, 40 in. by 50 in. ALFRED ELMORE, R.A. Born 1815. Died 1881. 35. — The Emperor Charles V. at the Convent of Yuste. ' The Spanish order of St. Jerome early placed its standard in the Vera of Placencia, choosing for its camp one of the sweetest spots of the sweet valley. Yuste stands on its northern side, and near its eastern end, about two leagues west of Xarandilla, and seven leagues east of Placencia. The site is a piece of somewhat level ground, on the lower slope of the mountain, which is clothed as far as the eye can reach, with woods of venerable oak and chestnut. About an English mile to the south, the village of Quacos nestles, unseen amongst its orchards and mulberry gardens. The monastery owes its name, not to a saint, but to a streamlet which descends from the Sienna behind its walls, and its origin to the piety of one Sancho Martin, of Quacos, who granted in 1402 a tract of forest land to two hermits from Placencia. Here these holy men built their cells and planted an orchard, and obtained, in 1488, a bull, authorising them to found a religious house of the order of St. Jerome. Thither, in 1557, wearied with the cares of kingcraft, and with a body en- feebled by disease, the Emperor Charles V., the friend of Titian, retired, taking to his retreat his dearly loved pictures. When his malady approached its termination, and within a few days of the day of his death, the sunshine again tempted him to his open gallery. As he sat there, he sent for the portrait of the Empress, and hung for some time lost in thought over the gentle face, which, with its blue eyes, auburn hair, and pensive beauty, somewhat resembled that other Isabella, the great Queen of Castile. He next called for a picture of our Lord praying in the Garden, and then for a sketch of the Last Judgment, by Titian. Having looked his last on the image of the wife of his youth, it seemed as if he were now bidding farewell, in the contemplation of these other favourite pictures, to the noble CATALOGUE OF PICTURES art which he had loved with a love which cares, and years, and sickness could not quench, and that will ever be remembered with his better fame. Thus occupied, he remained so abstracted and motionless that it was thought right to awaken him from his reverie. On being spoken to, he turned round and complained that he was ill. From this pleasant spot filled with the fragrance of the garden and the murmur of the fountain, and bright with the glimpses of the golden Vera, they carried him to the gloomy chamber of his sleepless nights, and laid him on the bed from which he was to rise no more.' Stirling's £ Cloister Life of the Emperor Charles V. ' 1 This picture is painted from Stirling's " Cloister Life of Charles V. ," and the immediate incident — that of contemplating the portrait of the Empress — is one which has been already several times studied. . . . The Emperor wear^ a suit of black and is seated in a black chair, a repetition which we never remember to have seen before practised with such force of effect. The Emperor is seated on the left of the composition, and near him stands Philip II., who looks older than Thilip was at this time, and handsomer. The pictures are brought and placed before the Emperor by monks and servants ; and on the extreme right is a group the removal of which would improve the picture, as it detracts from the concentration which should be the feeling in respect of the Emperor. The work is, however, a composition of great power ; the subject is the best the artist has ever entertained, and he has done it ample justice.' Art Journal, 1856. Exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1856, and the International Exhibition, 1862. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^1,417 10s. Formerly in the collections of William Lee, Esq., S. Mendell, Esq., and Baron Albert Grant. Signed and dated, Alfred Elmore, 1856, Canvas, 48 in. by 66 in. D 2 36 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A. Born 1802. Died 1873. 36. — Man proposes — God disposes. ' An Arctic incident suggested by the finding of the relics of Sir John Franklin. The scene is a piece of rugged ice, the coast-line of that remote land, broken by inlets of dark water. Over all is the greenish light of an Arctic noon ; a purple veil of mist is drawn aside, as if a secret were displayed, and in order that we might see what had become of our long lost countrymen. The veil gone, the rose tints of sunlight fall on the nearest and the highest points of rock- like ice, while light itself penetrates the sea-green blocks, and lurid shadows appear among the masses that strew the shore. Right across the front lies the mast of a boat, covered with brine as hard as a stone, and with a hoary fringe of icicles. A rag of tarpaulin — that may at one time have been the roof of a hut, formed amongst the angular blocks — lies over this spar. Beneath this spar are a few planks, bleached in the long frost ; and from below them peer a few bones — the rib bones of a man ; above these lies a coat of navy blue. A huge white bear, her head on high, holds between cruel jaws a whitened bone. At the other side of the picture, sprawls the form- less bulk of another large bear, whose flattened head is laid along the ice, dragging between its jaws and from beneath a spar the ragged length of a piece of bunting, part of a Union Jack. ' ' Sir Edwin LandseerJ by F. G. Stephens. 1 Sir Edwin Landseer's " Polar Bears" attain to the pretty poetry, and even reach the tragic grandeur wherewith this artist has from time to time invested the sportive play as well as the more desperate action of the animal creation. This picture takes the spectator to the terror-striking ice-fields where Franklin and his companions found in death snow for their grave and winding-sheet. Two hungry bears have come upon the relics of the expedition — a mast, a sail, a telescope, and a flag. One of the savage brutes tears the red Union Jack, the other crunches the rib bones of an unfortunate navigator. The cold mountains of ice, vast and desolate, are illumed by gleams of sunlight. Altogether the picture is remarkably impres- sive by its poetry, pathos, and terror.' — Art Journal, 1864. The Times of May 30, 1881, says 6 that many consider this picture to be Landseer's masterpiece,' and on May 31, ' Ages may pass before a second could be born with Landseers gift of portraying the parallelism of the spontaneous instincts of brute nature with human pleasures and human woes.' CATALOGUE OF TICTURES 37 Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1864, and the International Exhibition, Paris, 1878 ; also, in 1874, at the Burlington House Exhibition of Landseer's works, after his death. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 28, 1881, for the sum of ^6,615. From the collection of E. J. Coleman, Esq., of Stoke Park, who bought it, in 1864, fr° m the artist for 2,500 guineas. Engraved by the late Thomas Landseer, A.R.A., the artist's brother. Canvas, 36 in. by 96 in. JOHN PETTIE, R.A. Born 1839. Died 1893. 37.— A State Secret, ' " A State Secret " is meant to suggest a possible typical incident. It is obvious that such an incident might have taken place in the lives of Richelieu or Mazarin, or other Princes of the Roman Church ; indeed the two mentioned, who had each his "familiar" in the person of a simple monk, may have suggested to me the idea. 5 Extract from a letter by the Artist \ Sept. 10, 1887. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1874. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 13, 1882, for the sum of ^1,050. Formerly in the Wyfold Court Gallery, in the pos- session of the late Edward Hermon, Esq., M.P. Signed and dated, J, Pettie, 187 1^. Canvas, 48 in. by 64 in. 58 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE JAMES CLARKE HOOK, R.A. Born 1819. 38. — Leaving at Low Water \ Stilly Lsles. ' " Leaving at Low Water" includes one of this artist's noblest figures — a fisherman's wife preparing to join the boat as the tide goes down. Mr. Hook raises his rustics by aid of a certain nobility of type, infusing beauty into their rude frames, which become thus exalted into a natural, and yet in some degree into an ideal, manhood and womanhood. The figures he introduces are like to peasants of Arcadia, only they happen, instead of tending flocks in Greece, to be boating at Bideford or Clovelly, or fishing among the Scilly Islands.' Art Journal^ 1863. ' A deep harbour inlet of the Scilly Isles ; the tide has run a good way off the beach, and a vast enamelled space, marked with emerald green and blue, pure as the sky it reflects, lies in the sunlight, grows grey where a ripple takes it, flashes with crests of snow that rise and, as the wind shakes them — fringes of the sea as they are — lazily fall, drag, and vanish 'upon the shingle. In all this luxury of sunlight there extends across the picture a rude stone pier, many-hued with lichens and sea stains. Just off the beach lies a smack that will go away when the tide returns ; towards her a sailor wades with a boy pig-a-back ; about to wade likewise, a young woman takes off her shoes and stockings ; an urchin has brought a basket of provisions.' Art Annual, 1888. ' Mr. Hook's joyous little work blends the land and sea. No man can do this better than he, and every one will note the grace of the fisherwoman and the touch of nature in the inquisitiveness of the child, who turns to the provision basket while the parents are busy. Here, indeed, we have fine colour combined with the subtlest skill in composition, together with an unobtrusive figure interest which lends a happy human intent to the work.' — Magazine of Art , vol. 14. Painted at Tresco, one of the Scilly Isles. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1863. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 28, 1883, for the sum of ^1,365. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 39 Formerly in the Aston Rowant Gallery belonging to Thomas Taylor, Esq. Signed and dated, 18 J Qj 63. Canvas, 27 in. by 42 in. BRITON RIVIERE, R.A. Born 1840. 39. — Sympathy. None of Mr. Riviere's pictures have been more popular than this. The small girl, banished to the staircase in disgrace, with the sym- pathetic terrier deprecating her tears, has found her way into hundreds of homes, both humble and luxurious, by the means of Mr. Stack- poole's excellent engraving. ' The little girl was painted from my daughter, Miss Millicent A. Riviere. The dog, with some slight alterations (as my animals are never portraits), was done from a bull terrier belonging to a man who has supplied me with dogs for some considerable time.' Extract from a letter by the Artist \ Sept. 1, 1887. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1878. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 28, 1883, for the sum of ^2,625. Formerly in the collection of Thomas Taylor, Esq., by whom it was purchased from the artist for his gallery at Aston Rowant. Engraved by F. Stackpoole, A. R.A. Signed and dated, Briton Riviere — 1877. Canvas, 48 in. by 40 in. 40 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE CLARKSON STANFIELD, R.A. Born 1793. Died 1867. 40. — The Battle of Roveredo, 1796. 4 Fought in September, 1796, by Massena and Augereau, against Davidovich, who was guarding the Tyrol with 40,000 men. In the foreground, the French infantry are fording the Adige, and in the distance are again seen passing the bridge, under fire from batteries ; on the right, the fortress ; on the left, inhabitants flying from their houses ; background, the snow-clad Alps.' Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings. ' Roveredo, one of the chief industrial cities in South Tyrol, is situated on the left bank of the Adige (Etsch), in the fertile Val Lagarina, 35 miles north of Verona and 100 miles south of Innsbruck. 4 In September, 1796, the French under Massena won a victory over the Austrians near Roveredo.' — Encyclopccdia Britannica. ' This large picture shows rather the advance of the French as crossing the Adige, than the battle. The fire from the fortress on the right has almost ceased. The near passages of the composition are in shade, to which is opposed a block of nouses in strong light. This is a very large composition, and we think more full of material than any that the artist has before painted. The shades are deep and pure, the lights lustrous and sunny, and nothing can exceed some of the textures which give such characteristic identity to the surface imitations in these works. It is a production of great power, and its colour is one of its best qualities.' — The Art Journal 1 85 1. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1851. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 28, 1881, for the sum of ^3,465. Formerly in the collection of E. J. Coleman, Esq., of Stoke Park. See reference to this picture at page 14. No. 12 in this collection. Signed and dated, Clarkson Stanfield, 1851. Canvas, 72 in. by 108 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 41 JOHN LINNELL, Sen. Born 1792. Died 1882. 41. — Wayfarers, Painted in 1849. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^819. Formerly in the collection of William Lee, Esq. Signed and dated, J. Linnell, 1849 and 66. Canvas, 28 in. by 36 in. WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. Born 1788. Died 1847. 42. — Borrowdale, Cumberland, zvith children playing by the banks of a brook. Painted in 1823 for F. Ripley, Esq., and exhibited at the Royal Academy. In April 1849, thi- s picture was sold at Messrs. Christie, Manson, & Woods', for the sum of 235 guineas. Vide Art Journal \ 1849, P a S e l 4%- Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', July 9, 1881, for the sum of ^2,625. From the collection of the late William Sharp, Esq. Signed, W. Collins. Canvas, 34 in. by 44 in. 4 2 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, R.A. Born 1775. Died 1851. 43. — -Vtm-Trmrtfir^k^ v^Ezhibited_atjhe Royal A ra4em^4ft-^%?: Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 5, 1883, for the sum of ,£3,675. Formerly the property of the late Henry Woods, Esq. Canvas, 36 in. by 48 in. JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A. Born 1776. Died 1837. 44. — A View on the Stour, zvith the Tower of the Priory Chureh in the Distance ; boats and figures, and cliildren angling. 1 Constable's " View on the Stour" is perhaps the happiest view extant of his favourite river. The reeds, the wide expanse of sky covered with broken clouds of warm grey tones, the boats lying under the bank in the gloom of overhanging trees, the rustic bridge spanning the river and leading to the picturesque cottage on the right, are all put in with quite extraordinary facility. As to the sky — well, modern landscapists should do what Constable did if they wish to paint like Constable ; they should make several quick studies every day of cloud effects.' — Magazine of Art, vol. 14. On the Stour in #ttffolk. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 5, 1883, for the sum of £1,249 io ^ Formerly in the collection of J. M. Dunlop, Esq., late of Holehird, Windermere. Canvas, 51 in. by 73 in. Vu*£. - S ^ CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 43 THOMAS SIDNEY COOPER, R.A. Born 1803. 45. — Landscape, with sheep and goats. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1856. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', July 9, 1881, for the sum of ^£546. Formerly in the collection of the late William Sharp, Esq. Signed and dated, T. Sidney Cooper, R.A., 1856. Canvas, 38 in. by 50 in. 46. — The Carrier preparing to set out. Painted in 1793. Purchased of the Earl of Dunmore, October 28, 1 88 1, for the sum of ^400. Signed and dated, G. Morland, 1798. Canvas, 34 in. by 46 in. t - * 47. — Pilgrims approaching Jerusalem. A facsimile of a pen-and-ink sketch by the Artist of this picture is to be found in the 'Life of David Roberts, R.A.,' by James Ballantine, and on it is the following inscription : — 'Jerusalem 44 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE from the Mount of Olives, with pilgrims entering from the River Jordan. Painted for the Right Hon. Lord Monson, being the first and last of a collection of the British School commenced by his Lord- ship for his new house at Gatton, which, had he lived, from his judgment and love of art — of which he was no indifferent practi- tioner himself — would have most probably formed a princely collection. — I received from his Lordship for this picture ^330.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1841. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 5, 1883, for the sum of ^388 10s. Formerly sold by them for 1,500 guineas. Signed and dated, David Roberts, 18^1. Canvas, 47 in. by 83 in. RICHARD ANSDELL, R.A. Born 1815. Died 1885. 48. — The Drover's Halt; Island of Mull in the distance. It is stated by Ottley that Ansdell painted this picture in conjunction with Thomas Creswick, R.A. Painted in 1845, an d exhibited at the Royal Academy. Bought at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods,' April 29, 1882, for the sum of £262 10s. Signed and dated, Rich 6 " Ansdell, 1845. Canvas, 38 in. by 72 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 45 JOHN BRETT, A.R.A. Born 1831. 49. — Cartliillon Cliffs. Painted in 1878. 'Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^273. Formerly in the collection of William Lee, Esq. Signed and dated, John Brett, 1878. Canvas, 18 in. by 36 in. EDWARD WILLIAM COOKE, R.A. Born 181 1. Died 1880. 50. — Scheveningen Beach. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 29, 1882, for the sum of ^152 55*. Formerly in the Redleaf Collection. Signed and dated, E. W. Cooke, Redleaf, Dec r ., 1839. Canvas, 18 in. by 36 in. THEODOR ALEXANDER WEBER. Born 1838. 51. — Dover Pilot and Fishing Boats. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 29, 1882, for the sum of ^31 10s. Signed, Th. Weber. Canvas, 24 in. by 36 in. 46 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE JAMES WEBB. Born . Died 1895. 52. — Carthagena y Spain. Painted in 1874. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 29, 1882, for the sum of ^105. Formerly in the possession of the late Horace Woodward, Esq., of Birmingham. Signed and dated, James Webb, 187^. — Carthagena. Canvas, 30 in. by 50 in. ON THE SCREENS. THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R.A. Born 1727. Died 1788. 53. — Going to Market, early morning. Peasants and Colliers. Exhibited at the Royal Academy £ Old Masters ' Exhibition, 1870. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', at the sale of the Stourhead Heirlooms, June 2, 1883, for the sum of ^2,835. Canvas, 48 in. by 58 in. - * 54. — Travellers in a storm. — Approach to Winchester. Painted in 1829. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', July 9, 1881, for the sum of ,£3,150. COPLEY FIELDING. Born 1787. Died 1855. 48 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Formerly the property of the late William Sharp, Esq., of Endwood Court, Handsworth. Signed and dated, Copley Fielding, 1829. Canvas, 40 in. by 50 in. WILLIAM JOHN MULLER. Born 1812. Died 1845. 55. — Tomb in tlie water \ Telmessus, Lycia. 4 A broad, quiet expanse of water reflects the mountains, which are honeycombed with tombs, and above these rises a bold crest capped with snow. A curious antique sculptured tomb is standing out of the water, in which it is reflected, and several storks are grouped about in the water and on the banks. The sky is of a pearly grey, and the general effect calm and quiet, and also full of mystery. ' This picture is often called " Tombs in the Mountains." ' * A Memoir of the Life of William James MiillerS By N. Neal Solly. A photograph of the picture accompanies the above description. 4 W. J. Miiller's 44 Tomb in the Water, Telmessus, Lycia," is a noble picture, but difficult of description, for the poetry which hangs round the distant mountains that are honeycombed with tombs, and floats on the surface of the water that reflects these mountains, can- not be put into words. Calm the picture certainly is, but very sad ; Muller painted it, as it were, with the history of the past upon him.' Magazine of Art, vol. 14. Painted in 1845. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', July 9, 1881, for the sum of ^2,362 10s. Formerly in the collection of the late William Sharp, Esq., of Handsworth, near Birmingham. Signed and dated, W. Muller, fJfi. Canvas, 30 in. by 54 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 49 JOHN MacWHIRTER, R.A. Born 1839. 56. — Spindrift. 4 " Spindrift " means the spray of the sea caught up and whirled away by the wind. I saw the seaweed cart coining along when I was walking on a stormy day, and made a note of it in my sketch-book. I afterwards made careful studies of the wet road, gravel, &c. The scene is near Loch Range, Arran, N.B. 5 Extract from a letter by the Artist, Sept. 1S87. * The atmospheric effect of < 6 Spindrift " is beyond praise. Notice, too, the straining attitude of the old white horse. Facing the rough and boisterous revelling of the wind, he, with an almost pathetic determination, takes what steps he can, but without any unnecessary ado. In short, truth and poetry are happily united in this picture.' Magazine of Art, vol. 14. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1876. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 13, 1882, for the sum of £315. Formerly in the possession of the late Edward Hermon, Esq., M.P., at Wyfold Court. Signed, MacWhirter. Canvas, 32 in. by 56 in. TITO CONTI. 57. — Paying Jier respects to His High Mightiness. Painted in 1875. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 2i, 1883, for the sum of ^157 10s. Formerly in the collection of T. F. Walker, Esq. Signed, Tito Contu Panel, 17^ in. by 12 \ in. E ROYAL HOLLOWAV COLLEGE TITO CONTI. 58. — Good Bye. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1878. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson &: Woods 1 , April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^294. From the collection of T. F. Walker, Esq. Signed and dated, Tito Conti, 1877. Canvas, 25 in. by 18 in. TITO CONTI. 59. — Approved. Painted in 1875. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^162 155-. Formerly the property of T. F. Walker, Esq. Signed and dated, Tito Conti, 1875. Panel, 15 in. by 11 in. JAMES WEBB. Born . Died 1895. 60.— Dordrecht Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^23 2s. From the collection of T. F. Walker, Esq. Signed, Dordrecht, James Webb. Canvas, 9 in. by 14 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 51 PATRICK NASMYTH. Born 1786. Died 1831. 61. — Landscape \ with trees and figures in the fore- ground, a church in the distance. Painted in 1830. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^483. Formerly in the collection of William Lee, Esq. Signed and dated, Patk. Nasmyth, 1830. Panel, 12 in. by 16 in. J. HENRY LE JEUNE, A.R.A. (Retired). 62. — Early Sorrozv. Painted in 1869. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^54 12s. Formerly in the collection of T. F. Walker, Esq. Signed and dated, 18 >K 69. 63. — Interior of a Cottage in Wales, with a woman at a spinning-zvheel, and a child feeding chickens. Painted in 184T. Born 1820. Panel, 12 in. by 10 in. WILLIAM JOHN MULLER. Born 18 1 2. Died 1845. e 2 52 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^210. Formerly in the collection of the late Samuel Mayou, Esq. Signed and dated, W. Mutter, 18^1. Panel, 10 in. by 14 in. WILLIAM JOHN MULLER. Bom 1 812. Died 1845. G4. — The Opium Stall. 1 In a letter, dating from Bristol, where he was staying a short time in 1843, M tiller alludes to his picture "An Opium Stall" at Monfaloot. He writes thus graphically : — "I shall never forget with what pleasure I first made acquaintance with an Eastern bazaar ; and as scene after scene presented itself to me, there was but one thought work- ing in my mind. What would not Rembrandt have done with such subjects ? " They remind one strongly of that fine painter. The sun streams through a little opening in the wall and falls on the figures, lighting them up with all but a supernatural brilliancy ; reflection acts its part, and bit by bit the whole is revealed ; and as figure after figure passes by, some in the richest dresses and superb stuffs, while others, such as the pipe-cleaners, walk on, shouting their avocations, and literally clothed in rags, you have a constantly changing picture before you.' Vide Art Journal, 1864, page 293. Painted in 1841. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^336. Formerly in the collection of the late Samuel Mayou, Esq. Signed and dated, W. Mutter, 1841. Panel, 16 in. by 1 1 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 53 E. BLAIR LEIGHTON. Born 1853. 65. — A Flaw in the Title. ' Foremost among the genre pictures comes Mr. E. Blair Leighton's " Flaw in the Title," a legal incident in the powder and pigtail period. An oldish lawyer sits at a table with a document of impor- tant size before him ; a handsome young fellow, leaning towards his adviser, awaits the result of the examination with happy-go-lucky cheerfulness ; and an obsequious clerk, standing behind the table, and holding a quill pen between his lips, gazes into his master's face, and " straight dreams on fees." ' — Magazine of Art ! , vol. 14. Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1878. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 28, 1883, for the sum of ^162 155-. Formerly in the collection of Thomas Taylor, Esq., by whom it was bought from the artist for his gallery at Aston Rowant. Signed and dated, E. Blair Leighton, 1878. Canvas, 24 in. by 36 in. JAMES HOLLAND. Born 1800. Died 1870. 66. — Venice : Piazza di San Marco. £ This view presents the quay of the Grand Canal, at Venice, having the palace on the left. The composition derives life from numerous figures of senators and citizens, in the costume of the palmy days of the City of the Sea. This is the class of subject in which the artist excels, and we find this qualified by his most felicitous manner.' — Art Journal^ 1850. ' It is a great piazza, anchored, like all the rest, in the deep ocean. On its broad bosom is a palace, more majestic and magnificent in its old age than all the buildings of the earth, in the high prime and 54 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE fulness of their youth. . . . Near to the margin of the stream are two ill-omened pillars of red granite ; one having on its top a figure with a sword and shield : the other, a winged lion.' C. Dickens. This picture was bought at the exhibition of the British Institu- tion, 1850, by an Art Union prize-holder, for the sum of ,£40. Vide Art Journal, 1850, page 212. At the back of the picture are the following inscriptions : — ' Piazzeta di S. Marco, Venezia. James Holland, 1850.' * To Peter Potter, Esq. This picture is a genuine work of Yours very truly, James Holland, Jan. 22, 1855.' Painted in 1850. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, f° r tne sum 0^*^189. Formerly the property of T. F. Walker, Esq., of Birmingham. Signed and dated, Millboard, 9 in. by 1 1 in. FREDERICK DANIEL HARDY. Born 1826. 67. — Expectation ; Interior of a Cottage, zvitli a mother and children, * One of those cottage interiors which this artist paints with such unimpeachable exactitude. The walls and the brick floor have been most assiduously wrought into microscopic imitation of these surfaces. The work is entitled to rank among the best of this class of subject.' Art Journal, 1854. Painted in 1854, and exhibited at the Royal Academy. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^99 15J. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 55 Formerly in the collection of the late Samuel Mayou, Esq. Signed and dated, F.D.H., 1854. Panel, 9 in. by 12 in. CLARKSON STANFIELD, R.A. Born 1793. Died 1867. 68. — After a Storm. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^162 15^. Formerly in the collection of the late Samuel Mayou, Esq. Signed, C. Stanfield. Millboard, 8 J in. by 13 in. JULES NOEL. Born 1815. Died 1881. 69. — The Quay, Hennebont, with boats and figm^es. Painted in 1857. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^26 $s. Formerly in the collection of William Lee, Esq. This is the companion picture to Abbeville, No. 71 in this collection. Signed and dated, Jules Noel, 1857. Panel, 21 in. by 18 in. 56 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE JOHN SYER. Born 1815. Died 1885. 70.— The Windmill. Painted in 1878. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 29, 1882, for the sum of ^66 3^. Formerly in the collection of the late H. Woodward, Esq. Signed and dated, J. Syer, 1 78. Canvas, 21 J in. by 32 in. JULES NOEL. Born 1815. Died 1881. 71. — Abbeville \ with peasants and horses in the fore- ground. Painted in 1857. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 26, 1883, for the sum of ^26 55-. Formerly in the collection of William Lee, Esq. This is the companion picture to The Quay, Henne- bont, No. 69 in this collection. Signed and dated, Jules Noel, 1857. Panel, 21 in. by 18 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 57 EDWIN ELLIS. Born 1 84 1. Died 1895. 72. — The Harbour Bar. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson &: Woods', April 23, 1883, for the sum of j£m 6s. Formerly in the collection of John Burr, Esq., of the Royal Water Colour Society. Signed, E. Ellis. Canvas, 16 in. by 30 in. GEORGE MORLAND. Born 1763. Died 1804. 73. — The Cottage Door. 6 In this picture the hero stands at his " Cottage Door," wearing his short red jacket and wideawake hat. His wife is busy with her needle ; his child leans against a chair, and plays as children will play, with a something— nothing ; whilst a friend sits at ease and hugs a big brown jug of beer or wine upon his knee. On the right there is a low-roofed pigsty, made of wood, through the door of which a sow thrusts her long lean head ; on the left we see a river- side, and the pointed nose of a boat rises above the bank, and it is the same boat that will shortly bear our hero from the pleasures of his " Cottage Door" into the power of the " Pressgang" (see No. 74, the companion picture). This is a very fine little genre picture, full of that sensuous human interest which Goethe noticed and praised in the works of Adrian van Ostade. Indeed, there is ample evidence in many of Morland's paintings to prove that Ostade was a source of inspiration to him. Like Ostade, he loved a humble home and the rough surroundings of the poor ; but Adrian sought for truth and pathos with his spectacles, while Morland rarely took the trouble to look deeply into nature, where poetry hides in unlikely places and in strange little odds and ends.' Magazine of Art : , vol. 14. Painted in 1 790. 58 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 19, 1883, for the sum of ^199 10s. Formerly in the collection of the late George Tierney, Esq. This picture has been engraved by William Ward, A.R.A., Morland's brother-in-law. This is the companion picture to The Pressgang, No. 74 in this collection. Signed and dated, G. Morland, 1790. Canvas, 14 in. by 18 in. GEORGE MORLAND. Born 1763. Died 1804. 74. — The Pressgang. See description, No. 73. Painted in 1790. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', May 19, 1883, for the sum of ^199 \os. Formerly in the collection of the late George Tierney, Esq. This picture has been engraved by William Ward, A.R.A., the artist's brother-in-law, and is the companion picture to The Cottage Door, No. 73 in this collection. Signed and dated, G. Morland, 1790. Canvas, 14 in. by 18 in. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES 59 PAUL FALCONER POOLE, R.A. Born 1806. Died 1879. 75. — Crossing tlie Stream. Painted in 1844. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of £220 10s. Formerly in the collection of the late Samuel Mayou, Esq. This is a companion picture to The Gleaner, No. 77 in this collection. A coloured reproduction of this picture is published by Messrs. G. Rowney & Co. Signed and dated, P. F. Poole, /44* Panel, 19! in. by 15 in. THOMAS SIDNEY COOPER, R.A. Born 1803. 76. — Landscape, with cows and sheep. Painted in 1850. Exhibited at Birmingham. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', July 2, 1881, for the sum of ^273. Formerly the property of the late John Prescott Knight, Esq., R.A. Signed and dated, T. Sidy Cooper, A.R.A., 1850. Canvas, 25 in. by 32 in. 6o ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE PAUL FALCONER POOLE, R.A. Born 1806. Died 1879. 77. — The Gleaner. ' Mr. Poole has frequently placed before the public little gems of pictures similar to this ; rustic figures, of the young especially, en- gaged in the various amusements or occupations of a country life. . . . The head of this young gleaner is bright enough, intelligent and beauteous enough, to be that of the daughter of some noble house ; and we would not have it otherwise, though she be only a peasant's child, for personal beauty and attractiveness are not limited to birth and blood, and the artist in so rendering it has indulged in no false sentimentality or unwarrantable freedom in representing the uncul- tivated grace of a true child of nature. The pensive attitude in which the figure is placed, the picturesque arrangement of the homely dress, the easy lifelike action of the hands, carelessly hold- ing her diminutive sheaf of gathered wheat ears, the sweet expres- sion of the face — sweet in its very thoughtfulness — combine with the rich warm colouring of the picture to make it one of the most charming works of the kind within our recollection. ' Art Journal, 1864. Painted in 1843. Purchased at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', April 21, 1883, for the sum of ^204 15^. . Formerly in the collections of the late Mr. Samuel Mayou and of J. Bickerstaff, Esq., Preston. A companion picture to Crossing the Stream, No. 75 in this collection. Signed and dated, P. F. Poole, /43. Canvas, 19 in. by 15 in. 6 1 DINING HALL. EDINE GUSTAVE GIRARDOT. Portrait of the late Thomas Holloway. Portrait of the late Mrs. Holloway. Painted in 1882. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. RICHARD ANSDELL, R.A. Richard Ansdell was born at Liverpool in 1815. His father was a freeman of the port, and at the Blue Coat School there young Ansdell was educated. Abandoning all thoughts of commerce, he seems, at a very early age, to have half apprenticed himself to a kind of picture dealer, who employed his talent in making copies of so-called Old Masters. The love for dumb creatures, however, so inherent in the Englishman, always claims a wide interest for pictures of animals ; and young Ansdell's natural skill in delineating horses, dogs, &c, by degrees secured him a living when he had cut himself adrift from his aforesaid dealer, who had treated him with harshness and illiberality. Ansdell took up his residence in London in 1847, although he had exhibited at the Royal Academy as far back as 1840. Among these early works are included ' Grouse Shooting,' ' A Galloway Farm/ ' The Death of Sir W. Lambton at the Battle of Marston Moor,' 4 The Death,' exhibited in 1843; and 'The Drover's Halt.' The celebrated ' Fight for the Standard ' was F 66 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE exhibited in 1848, and known throughout the length and breadth of the land by means of innumerable engravings. Up to the time (1 861) of his admission as an Associate of the Royal Academy, Ansdell steadily progressed in public favour ; such works as 6 Mules drinking, Seville,' ' The Water Carrier,' 1857, 'The Spanish Shepherd,' 1858, ' The Lost Shep- herd,' and 4 Buy a Dog, Ma'am,' i860, were conspicuous. The Lancashire Relief Fund, in 186 1-2, was fortunate enough to receive from Mr. Ansdell, as a free gift, 1 The Hunted Slave,' one of the very best of his more imagi native pictures. * Treading out the Corn ' and ' The Interrupted Meal' are two remarkable pictures of a later date. It has been truly said that had we had no Landseer, our best animal painter would have been Ansdell. He contrives to invest his dumb creatures with that look of reality and mobility which appeals to all, whilst in express- ing the more savage and fiercer attributes of their nature he is unsurpassed. W. W. Fenn, Magazine of Art, vol. 5. Richard Ansdell died in 1885, having been a Royal Academician for ten years. Some of his principal works, in addition to the above-mentioned, are : — 6 The Intruders,' 4 A Fete Day,' and * The Anxious Mother' 1875 * The Cattle are in the Corn ' ..... 1876 ' The Home of the Red Deer,' and ' Rejected Addresses' 1877 * " Fifty Years Ago :" before the Salmon Act ' . . 1878 * A Storm in the Glen' 1879 ' The Farm of the Alhambra ' . . . . .1881 4 Hunting the Boar ' 1883 * Spring, Isle of Skye ' ...... 1884 * Shooting the Covers,' and ' Off for the Moors' . . 1885 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 67 JOHN BRETT, A.R.A. John Brett was born in 1831, and is one of the chief upholders of the Pre-Raphaelite school in landscape and marine art ; he first attracted general attention by his 4 Val d'Aosta ' (purchased by Mr. Ruskin), and for over twenty years has contributed to the Royal Academy Exhibitions a series of admirably painted studies of inland and coast scenery. His superb sapphire-and-turquoise-like seas are marvels of draughtsmanship and colour. A Short History of the British School of Painting. By G. H. Shepherd. Mr. Brett was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1 88 1. Some of his principal pictures exhibited at the Royal Academy are : — 4 Spires and Steeples of the Channel Islands' . . 1875 4 Mount's Bay ' 1877 4 The Cornish Lions ' . . . . . . . 1878 4 Britannia's Realm ' . . . . . . . 1880 4 St. Ive's Bay' 1881 4 The Grey of the Morning ' ..... 1882 4 Welsh Dragons' 1883 4 The Norman Archipelago '..... 1885 4 An Argyll Eden ' 1886 'Kyle-Akin' 1887 4 The Lion, the Lizard, and the Stags' . . . 1889 4 Harlyn Bay ' ........ 1890 4 The Highland Summer' ...... 1891 4 The Isles of Skomer and Skokham ' . . . . 1892 4 Pearly Summer' ....... 1893 4 The Parting Hour ' ....... 1894 68 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE JOHN BAGNOLD BURGESS, R.A. John Bagnold Burgess was born on October 21, 1830, at Chelsea, and, like many of his contemporaries, com- menced his actual training in art at Mr. Leigh's Academy, in Newman Street, in 1848. Thence to the Royal Academy there was but one step — he being admitted there as a student in 1850. In those days a youngster had to train himself as best he could, feeling his way amongst the antiques at the British Museum, or drawing from casts in his own home. Young Burgess received — to some ex- tent—help from Sir William Ross, the miniature-painter, who undertook, as an intimate friend of his father, to look after the boy's art-education. When in the Life School of the Royal Academy, Burgess was able to distinguish himself by carrying off the medal of the first class, awarded for drawing from the life. Taking advantage of certain family connections residing in Seville, he very soon went off to Spain, and it is the rough, ragged, dirty, sheepskin-clad, parched-up peasantry, gipsies, and contrabandistas of that country that John B. Burgess chiefly delights to paint. So long ago as 1865 he established himself in the estimation of the public, as well as in the opinion of the best judges, as a painter of no mean power, by the exhibition of ' Bravo Toro,' a picture which, from its nature, has been hard for him to surpass. Going back over the public record of his work, we have in 1866 'The Favourite Padre,' in 1868 ' Stolen by Gipsies,' ' A Visit to the Nursery,' in 187 1 ; ' Kissing Relics in Spain,' in 1872 ; ' The Rush for Water,' in 1873 > an d ' The Presenta- tion ' in 1874. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 6 9 One can trace through his frank, firm, yet tender English manner, and the excellence of his technique — which, if not the most forcible, is decidedly above the English average- that vein of languid, graceful, semi-sensuous indolence — that postponing till to-morrow {hasta manand) kind of sentiment — which is so marked an element of the Spanish nature. It may be that something of this tendency accounts for the comparatively few large compositions which Mr. Burgess produces. He works with industry, lovingly, dili- gently, but deliberately, as though he w r ere revelling in the calm, warm atmosphere which he depicts, and in the midst of which any great display of energy or intensity — to adopt a modern phrase — would be quite out of place. Mr. Burgess was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1876. Magazine of Art, vol. 5. Mr. Burgess was elected a Royal Academician on December 5, 1888. His principal works, in addition to those above mentioned, have been exhibited at the Royal Academy as follows : — 1 The Barber's Prodigy' 1875 4 Licensing the Beggars, Spain ' . . . . .1877 1 Childhood in Eastern Life ' ..... 1878 4 The Student in Disgrace ' . ..... 1879 1 The Professor and his Pupil' ..... 1880 4 The Genius of the Family ' . . . . . 1881 'The Letter Writer' 1882 ' The Meal at the Fountain ' ..... 1883 4 The Scramble at the Wedding ' 1884 4 An Artist's Almsgiving ' 1886 4 Making Cigarettes at Seville ' ..... 1887 4 The Sculptor ' . ....... 1890 4 Making Harness in Seville ' ..... 1891 4 The Old Hero' 1893 4 Rehearsing the 44 Miserere : " Spain' . . . 1894 70 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A. William Collins was born in London, September 18, 1788; his father, who carried on the business of a picture dealer in Great Titchfield Street, was a native of Wicklow, in Ireland, and the friend of George Morland, of whom he wrote a memoir. The son, from this intimacy, was in some measure the pupil of Morland, who allowed Collins to watch him painting. From 1807 to 1814 Collins was a student and an exhibitor at the Royal Academy ; in the last year he was elected an Associate, and in 1820 a Member, of that institution. His first patron was Mr. Lister Parker, who bought his picture of ' Boys with a Bird's Nest,' exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1809. He became the chief support of his family in 181 2, when he lost his father. But he early found valuable patrons in Sir Thomas Heathcote, Sir John Leicester, Sir Geo. Beaumont, and Sir Robert Peel. He was a distinguished exhibitor at the Academy for more than 30 years, contributing 121 pictures in 40 years ; his style being chiefly landscape, with the outdoor inci- dents of ordinary life prominently introduced ; as the 1 Young Fifer,' the ' Sale of the Pet Lamb,' ' Bird Catchers/ the ' Fisherman's Departure,' 4 Hop Gatherers,' ' Happy as a King,' ' Frost Scene,' 'The Haunts of the Sea Fowl,' 4 Fetching the Doctor,' with cottage and coast scenes in great variety ; especially Cromer Sands. He painted also a few portraits. Latterly, however, he evinced a desire to treat higher subjects ; he exhibited ' Our Saviour with the Doctors in the Temple,' in 1840 ; and ' The Two Disciples at Rmmaus,' in 1841. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES /I In 181 7 he visited Paris ; made a tour in Holland and Belgium in 1828 ; and resided a short time at Boulogne in 1829. In 1836, he visited Italy, remaining there nearly two years; in 1840 Germany, and in 1842 the Shetland Islands ; each tour affording new materials for his varied subjects. He died in London, of disease of the heart, February 17, 1847. National Gallery Catalogue, Collins continued to paint numerous pictures of rustic life with great success ; amongst which ' Rustic Civility ' and ' As Happy as a King ' are perhaps the most popular. A replica of the latter now hangs in the National Gallery. Wilkie Collins (the well-known novelist, and author of a Life of his father, published in 1848) says that the subject of this painting was suggested to his father by the story of the country boy whose ideal of happiness was swinging on a gate all day long and eating fat bacon. It is said that his unwise practice of painting at all times of the day while at Sorrento, though he was warned of its folly by his friends, sowed the seeds of the disease by which he was vanquished at last. A rheu- matic attack left behind it disease of the heart, and although he lived for eleven years afterwards, he was never the same man again. It was under great suffering that he painted, in 1846, his beautiful picture of ' Early Morning.' The following are some of the principal of his works : — ■ ' A Country Kitchen.' In the South Kensington Museum . . . . . . . . 1 8 1 1 i Fishermen coming ashore before Sunrise ' . . .1817 72 ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE * Coast of Norfolk ' 1818 ' Scene near Chichester ' ...... 1822 ' Scene in Borrowdale, Cumberland ' .... 1823 ' Walmer Castle ' ....... 1823 * The Cherry Seller ' ....... 1824 ' Sunday Morning 1836 ' Ischia, Bay of Naples ' . . . . . .1841 4 Seaford, Sussex.' In the South Kensington Museum 1844 Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. JOHN CONSTABLE, R.A. John Constable was born at East Bergholt, in Suffolk, in 1776. His father intended him for the business of a miller, but Constable's taste for landscape painting early developed itself, and he resolved to be a painter. He became a student of the Royal Academy in 1800, received some instruction in landscape painting from R. R. Reinagle, R.A., and was much encouraged by Sir George Beaumont. In 18 16 he married ; and from 1820 he resided at Hampstead, the beautiful neighbourhood of which chiefly occupied his pencil for the remainder of his life. He was elected a Member of the Royal Academy in 1829, having been for ten years an Associate ; and he exhibited altogether 104 works at the Academy. He died in London, March 30, 1837. A Memoir of the Life of John Constable, Esq., R.A., composed chiefly of his Letters. By C. R. Leslie, Esq., R.A. London, 1842. It contains 22 engravings from Constable's works. Constable's landscapes are conspicuous for the simplicity of their subjects, consisting generally of a cottage, a BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 73 village church, or green, or the simple meadow ; some are distinguished for the effect of dew or rain. ' There is a place/ says Mr. Leslie, 1 4 among our painters, w T hich Turner left unoccupied, and which neither Wilson, Gainsborough, Cozens, nor Girtin so completely filled as John Constable. He was the most genuine painter of English cultivated scenery, leaving untouched its moun- tains and lakes.' ' I love/ said Constable, ' every stile, and stump, and lane in the village : as long as I am able to hold a brush, I shall never cease to paint them.' 2 Constable's principal works are : — * Salisbury Cathedral.' Exhibited in 1 831. 4 The Corn Field.' Painted in 1826. Now in the National Gallery. 1 The Valley Farm. ' Exhibited in 1835. Also in the National Gallery. * Dedham Mill.' Painted in 1820. In South Kensington Museum. ' Hampstead Heath.' Exhibited in 1830. ' The Hay Wain.' In the National Gallery. * The White Horse.' Exhibited in 18 19. ' A View on the Stour.' In the Royal Holloway College. TITO CONTI. Tito Conti, a contemporary painter of history and genre, was born in Italy. He now lives in Florence. His chief works are 'The Wine Taster,' in the Samuel Hawk Collection, New York ; ' Meeting of Dante and Beatrice ; ' 1 Meeting of Petrarch and Laura;' 'Dante and his 1 Handbook for Young Painters. 1855. 2 Mr. Uwins, in the Journal of the Phrenological Society. 1843. 74 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Friends ; ' c The Lute Player ; ' ' Good-bye ; ' and ' Paying her Respects to His High Mightiness.' Cyclopedia of Pai titers a?id Paintings. EDWARD WILLIAM COOKE, R.A. Edward William Cooke, the son of George Cooke, the engraver, was born in London in 1811. In 1835 appeared his first oil pictures, ' Honfleur Fishing Boats,' and a ' Hay-Barge off Greenwich,' in the Royal Academy. Since then, with three exceptions, 1839, 1846, and 1874, there was not a single exhibition, up to that of 1879, which did not contain one or more of his works. To 41 exhibitions he contributed 130 works, all well thought out and carefully executed. In 1851 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, and in 1864 he was made an Academician. He was a fellow of the Royal, the Geographical, the Geological, and the Linnean Societies. He died at Groombridge, near Tunbridge Wells, in 1880. Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Pngravers. Some of his principal pictures are : — r The Boat House ' . . . . . . . — ' Lobster Pots ' 1836 « Mending the Bait Nets' 1836 ' Brighton Sands ' ....... 1838 ' Dutch Boats in a Calm ' 1844 1 Schevening Pinks running to anchor off Yarmouth ' . 1864 ' Sandy Cove ' . . . . . . . . 1875 4 A Zuyder Zee Fishing Haven ' .... 1876 1 Schevening Pinks preparing for Sea ' 1877 ' The " Cleopatra " in the Bay of Biscay ' . . . 1878 ' On the Dutch Coast at Camperdown ' . . . 1879 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES THOMAS SIDNEY COOPER, R.A. Thomas Sidney Cooper was born at Canterbury, Sep- tember 26, 1803. At the age of seventeen he became painter at the Hastings Theatre, and for three years gained a moderate income by scene painting. Then he became a drawing master at Canterbury till the year 1827, when he set out from Dover to Calais, and literally ' sketched his way 1 from that French port to the Belgian capital, paying tavern bills by likenesses of hosts and hostesses. At Brussels his talent secured him patrons and employment ; and having settled there he married, and enjoyed the friendship of various Flemish artists. There, too, his pencil was first directed to the study of landscape, and the branch of art (animal painting) which secured him his present high reputation, with abundant and profitable employment. The revolution of 1830 involved him and his family in difficulties, and forced him to return to England. He first exhibited in the Suffolk Street Gallery in 1833. His picture attracted attention, and he received a commission from Mr. Vernon for a picture now in the Vernon Gallery. About ten years later his Cuyp-like groups of cattle, ' Going to Pasture,' ' Watering at Evening,' ' Reposing ' in the heat of a summer afternoon, attracted general notice. Mr. Cooper was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1845, and a Royal Academician in 1867. In 1882 he pre- sented to the City of Canterbury the Gallery of Art which he had founded some ten or twelve years previously, and in which he had since given gratuitous instruction to students. Men of the Time. 7 6 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Some of his more recent pictures are : — ' Reposing on God's Acre ' .... 1875 'Orphans' 1876 ' A Cool Retreat ' 1877 * A Summer's Sunny Evening' ..... 1878 < The Victor's Shout ' 1879 ' The Scapegoat ' ....... 1881 < Pushing off for Tilbury Fort ' 1884 'Twins' ......... 1886 < On a Farm in East Kent' 1889 ' Casualties in the Hunting-field ' 1890 * In the Meadows at Curfew Hour' .... 1892 < The High Hills are a Refuge for the Wild Goats ' . 1894 THOMAS CRESWICK, R.A. Thomas Creswick was born at Sheffield in 181 1, but came very young to London ; he had as early as 1828 two landscapes in the Royal Academy Exhibition, views in Wales, the theatre of many of his subsequent views. His subjects are thoroughly national in character, with somewhat of the too frequent coldness of our insular atmosphere prevailing in them, but are always pleasing from their truth of representation. Sleeping breadths of calm river, on whose surface the sunlight sparkles in silver sheen ; light and graceful masses of foliage on which the lights and shadows of summer weather change fitfully ; a sky over whose blue expanse a few feathery clouds are sailing languidly away ; cattle drinking in the shallows ; an angler lolling drowsily on the bank ; a sweep of half- wooded hills behind ; and the bold, sharp, clean-cut outlines of Snowdonia, paled by distance and intervening air ; such are the scenes which he generally painted. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 77 The nation possesses three specimens of his talent, viz. : ' The Pathway to the Village Church,' 1839, in the National Gallery ; ' A Mountain Stream, a scene on the Tummell, Perthshire ; ' and ' A Summer's Afternoon,' both painted in 1844, in the Sheepshanks collection at South Kensington. He became an Associate of the Academy in 1842, and a Member in 1850. As specimens of his works may be mentioned : — 'England,' 1847 ; 'Passing Showers,' 1849 ; ' The Wind on Shore,' ' First Glimpse of the Sea,' and ' Old Trees,' 1850; 'A Mountain Lake — Moonrise,' 1852; 'Trentside,' 1861 ; and 'Changeable Weather,' 1865. Creswick's pictures are numerous, the later being less pro- nounced in colour than the works of his middle period. He suffered latterly from failing health, and died at Bays- water on December 28, 1869. Ottley's Dictionary of Recent and Living Painters and Engravers. JOHN CROME (or Old Crome). Born at Norwich in 1769, Crome's early surroundings were of the poorest description. In his attempts to struggle upwards, he apprenticed himself to a sign-painter, and is said to be the first painter who practised graining in imita- tion of the natural marks in wood. Through the patronage of Sir William Beechey and others, and gaining some pupils, he was enabled to struggle on and obtain a certain amount of local repute. He became the founder of the then only local school of painting of importance in England. He did 78 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE not exhibit at the Royal Academy until 1806, and the total number of his works sent there for exhibition amounted only to fourteen. Crome, strange to say, seldom painted in oils out of doors ; he made careful studies and sketches from nature, and must have been gifted with remarkable powers of observation, for he rarely misses any detail of sky, stream, or leaf ; but his pictures, nevertheless, were painted in his studio, like those of his prototypes, the Dutch landscapists. Crome travelled a little in England and Wales at various times, as may be seen by the places represented ; and once, in 18 14, he extended his journeying to Paris, going by way of Belgium, where he must have found the scenery familiar, though the only record he appears to have made of it, beyond slight sketches, is his * View of the Ostend Canal at Bruges,' a fine moonlight effect, that was evidently noted on the spot and afterwards reproduced. In 181 o he was elected President of the Norwich Society ; John Sell Cotman, the second best artist of the school, being associated with him as Vice-President. Among the members were now to be reckoned such men as James Stark, George Vincent, Joseph Stannard, John Thistle, the etchers Edmund and Richard Girling and John Bernay Crome, all of whom accomplished good work as landscapists under Crome's influence. It was from the midst of society such as this, from a busy, jolly artist life, that Crome was called away on April 22, 182 1, after a few days' illness. His last words are said to have been, ' Hobbema, my dear Hobbema, how I have loved you ! ' An exhibition of his paintings was held in Norwich shortly after his death, when one hundred BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 79 and eleven of his works were gathered together, including those that remained unsold in his studio. But even this exhibition, though it greatly increased his local fame, did not make him more known to the world at large, and thus it has happened that up to the present day almost all his pictures have remained as cherished possessions in Norfolk homes, very few comparatively having found their way into the market. In 1878, at the Winier Exhibition at the Royal Academy, there were no less than twenty-sever of his works exhibited. They attracted much attention and high praise. Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers- His principal works are : — ' Mousehold Heath, near Norwich.' In the National Gallery. ' A View at Chapel Fields, Norwich.' In the National Gallery. ' The Windmill,' a view near Norwich. 4 The Old Oak.' In the possession of Captain Hill, of Brighton. 'Grove Scene, Marlingford.' In the possession of Mr. Louis Huth. * View of Cromer.' • A Woody Spot on the Banks of the Yare, with gipsy encampment.' 'A Woodland Scene.' In the Royal Holloway College. HENRY DAWSON. Henry Dawson was born in Hull in 181 1, but came with his parents to Nottingham when an infant, so that he always regarded the latter as his native town. His parents were poor, and he began life in a Nottingham lace factory. But even while engaged in lace-making he contrived to find time for art, and used to paint small pictures, which he sold at first for about half a crown each. In 1835 he gave up the 8o ROYAL HOLLOW AY COLLEGE lace trade and set up as an artist, his earliest patron being a hairdresser in Nottingham, who possessed a taste for art. In 1844 he removed to Liverpool, where after a time he got into greater repute, and received higher prices for his works. In 1849 ne came with his family to London, and settled at Croydon, where some of his best pictures were painted. Among these may be reckoned 'The Wooden Walls of England, 7 1 exhibited at the British Institution in 1854, * The Rainbow,' ' The Rainbow at Sea,' ' The Pool from London Bridge,' and 'London at Sunrise,' 'Arundel Castle,' ' Dover Castle,' ' Durham Cathedral,' a ' Scene in Windsor Park,' 4 The Houses of Parliament,' and 4 An Ancient City : return of a Fleet from Battle.' With the exception of six lessons from Pyne received in 1838, Henry Dawson was entirely a self-taught artist, and his art shows much originality and careful realism. He studied nature for himself, but he seems in later life to have been moved by Turner's influence to try more brilliant effects than he had before dared. Many of his works indeed are very Turneresque in treatment, though he can scarcely be called an imitator of Turner, for he had a distinct style of his own. Henry Dawson, though painting much, and selling his pictures for high prices in his later life, remained, strange to say, very little known except to artists 1 ' The Wooden Walls of England ' seems to be an original of which ' The Guardship saluting ' (No. 1 in this collection) is a replica. The Art Journal for 1854 gives the following description of the former picture when it was exhibited at the British Institution : ' The time here is evening, and the scene a roadstead, in which, as a principal, a line-of-battle ship, which seems to be saluting, is about to come to an anchor. The power of the picture is in the sky : the sun has sunk behind a cloud, but the light is diffused through the entire upper section of the picture with a truth which could find few imitations.' BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 81 and connoisseurs, until the large and very interesting collec- tion of his works that was made for the Nottingham Exhibi- tion in 1878 brought him wider fame. This Exhibition showed him to be a genuine English landscape painter, of no great imaginative or intellectual power, but who delighted in nature, and represented her faithfully to the best of his ability. He died December 13, 1878, at Chiswick, where he had for some time resided. Bryan's Dictio?iary of Painters and Engravers. Throughout his career, till a very few years before his death, Henry Dawson struggled on the borders of poverty through the lovvness of the prices at which he was obliged to sell his pictures. At the Academy his works were either rejected, ' skied/ or ' floored.' The closing of the old British Institution, where Mr. Dawson's pictures were always well placed, was a serious blow to him ; and so was the failure of a movement (through the death probably of his friend, John Philip) to redress the injustice of his exclusion from the Academic ranks. At length, in 1872 and 1873, when the artist was past sixty, his pictures were for the first time placed on the line at the Academy ; and almost concurrently the market prices of his works increased in a proportion which has had few parallels, except in the case of David Cox and Turner. He now received more to sign his early pictures than he had originally sold them for. As a single example of the rise in price, ' The Wooden Walls,' which in 1852 was bought of the artist for ^75, sold at Christie's in 1876 for ^1,400. Mr. Dawson will, we believe, rank in the history of our school but little, if at all, after Crome, Miiller, Cox, and other of our long inadequately appreciated masters. Illustrated London News, Dec. 28, 1878. G 82 ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE EDWIN ELLIS, R.B.A. Mr. Edwin Ellis, the well-known marine painter, was a native of Nottingham ; he passed the early part of his life in a lace factory in that town, but the occupation was utterly uncongenial, and his life efforts were devoted to painting. Nearly all his canvases were seascapes, and the power of his brush in this direction is universally acknowledged. He died in May 1895, at the age of 54. An exhibition of Mr. Ellis's works was held at the Nottingham Art Museum in the autumn of 1893. His pictures exhibit great power, the one entitled ' After Three Days' Gale' with its line running sea and rushing clouds illustrating the artist's impetuosity and daring ; and another fine picture, ' Full Summer,' shows the great white cliff on the coast at Flamborough, standing out towards the sea, the whole scene glistening in the summer sun. Mr. Ellis always painted in the most vigorous manner, having a clear conception of what he wished to do, and knowing the exact way of doing it, preserving with singular felicity the invigo- rating effects of the sea, which he represented with so much excellence. In his early days he received instruction from the late Henry Dawson. ALFRED ELMORE, R.A. Alfred Elmore was born at Clonakilty, in the County of Cork, on the day of the battle of Waterloo, June 18, 18 1 5. His father was a retired army surgeon, who removed to I ,ondon when his son was about twelve years of age, where BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 83 young Elmore began his career by drawing from the antique in the British Museum. In 1832 he entered the schools of the Royal Academy, and in 1834 exhibited there his first picture, a ' Subject from an Old Play.' Elmore's pictures, ' Rienzi in the Forum/ 1844, and ' The Origin of the Guelph and Ghibeline Quarrel in Florence/ 1845 — both exhibited in the Royal Academy, and attracting much notice — secured his election as an Associate in the latter year. His next popular picture was ' The Invention of the Stocking Loom/ exhibited in 1847, and engraved for the Art Union of London. In 1857 Elmore was elected a Royal Acade- mician. The best picture he ever painted was ' The Tuileries, 20th June, 1792/ exhibited in i860, representing the terrible scene of Marie Antoinette assailed in her own palace by the revolutionary mob. Elmore died at Kensing- ton, January 24, 1881, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. In addition to the pictures mentioned above, some of his principal works are : — ' The Martyrdom of Thomas a Becket ' . . . 1840 * The Fainting of Hero ' ...... 1846 ' The Deathbed of Robert, King of Naples ' . . 1848 'The Emperor Charles V. at Yuste ' . . . 1856 * Marie Antoinette in the Temple' .... 1 86 1 ' Mary, Queen of Scots, and Darnley at Jedburgh ' . 1877 ' A Scene from " The Courtship of Miles Standish " ' 1878 'An Eastern Bath' 1880 Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. G 2 8 4 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE THOMAS FAED, R.A. Thomas Faed was born at Burley Mill, in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, in 1826. He lost his father in his boyhood, but, aided by his brother, Mr. John Faed (now R.S.A.), who was working his way to reputation as an artist in Edin- burgh, resolved to follow the bent of his genius. While a student in the School of Design in Edinburgh, he was annually successful in the various prize competitions. The earliest work he exhibited was a water-colour drawing from the ' Old English Baron.' He soon after took to oil paint- ing, and became an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1849, and settled permanently in London in 1852. In 1855, his 'Mitherless Bairn' elicited very high praise at the Royal Academy, and some of his other chief works are : — ' Home and the Homeless,' £ The First Break in the Family,' 'Sunday in the Backwoods,' and 'The Last o' the Clan.' Mr. Faed was made an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1859, and R.A. in 1864. He was elected an honorary member of the Vienna Royal Academy in January, 1875. M en °f th e Tune. Some of Mr. Faed's principal works are : — ' She never told her Love ' . . . . . 1876 ' In Time of War,' and 4 A Runaway Horse ' . 1877 4 Maggie and her Friends ' . 187S * Free from Care . 1879 4 From Hand to Mouth 1 ..... . 1880 4 There's a little Lady ! On with her Cloak ' . . 1882 ' They had been Boys together ' . 1883 4 Of what is the wee Lassie thinking ? ' . 1884 4 When the Children are asleep ' . 1885 4 Oh, why left I my Hame ? ' . 4 No Rose without its Thorn ' . 4 A Page of Burns ' . ' The School Board in the Cottage ' . 1886 1887 1888 1892 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 85 COPLEY FIELDING. Anthony Vandyke Copley Fielding, an eminent water- colour landscape painter, was born in 1787. He was the second son of Theodore Nathan Fielding, and studied under John Varley. In 18 10 he became an Associate of the Water-colour Society, and a full member in 181 3, Treasurer in 1817, Secretary in 1818, and was President from 1831 until his death in 1855. He occasionally painted in oil, and some of these works appeared at the Royal Academy. National Gallery Catalogue. His works, both in oil and water colour, are eminently characterised by truthfulness, and, in water colour in par- ticular, by a steady adherence to the genuine resources of the art, without recourse to body colour and other appliances for effect, which has since threatened the integrity of the art as an art. Rarely travelling beyond our own shores for subjects, the richly-wooded landscapes of Yorkshire, and the wide, flock-covered downs of Sussex, were found to be sufficiently attractive for his pencil ; fre- quently, however, he put to sea in search of a storm or a wreck, which he treated as successfully as he did the peace- ful haunts of the deer, and the 6 South Downs.' No artist knew better than Mr. Fielding how to paint a mile's breadth of distant scenery on an inch of paper, or how to give light and air to his pictures ; and notwithstanding a certain uniformity of treatment, the truth and delicacy of his paint- ing ever made his works welcome. The peculiar sweetness and harmony which characterised his style attracted and gratified the eye alike of the artist and the uninitiated spectator. Mr. Copley Fielding was deservedly esteemed 86 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE by his brother artists, as a worthy and accomplished repre- sentative of their order ; whilst by his numerous pupils he was beloved for his affability and manner, and the zealous interest he manifested in their progress. Ottley's Dictionary of Recent and Living Painters and Engravers, LUKE FILDES, R.A. When Charles Dickens selected Mr. Luke Fildes to be the illustrator of the never-completed ' Edwin Drood,' the great novelist was only giving another instance of the marvellous insight he possessed into character. He saw at a glance, doubtless, that in our present subject he would find a genius that jumped precisely with his own. That he was right must be evident to all who have any knowledge of Mr. Fildes 5 work. The deep pathos, the dramatic realism, the power of close observation of simple but telling details, the intimate acquaintance with the motives, feelings, and emotions, stirring the heart of every-day common life, which it displays, are in the very spirit of Dickens. Born on October 14, 1844, in the midst of a busi- ness community, he avers that, as far as he can look back, his ancestry were entirely devoid of artistic instincts. Thus we find him making a compromise by diligently sticking to his general education in the day, so long as he was allowed to attend the School of Design in the evening at Chester, the city in which he was brought up, though Liverpool was his actual birthplace. In his seventeenth year he was permitted to make his choice of a career, and, discontented with the narrow round BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 87 of mechanical work afforded by the Chester school, he sought one founded on a wider basis, then lately established at Warrington. Still this did not yield sufficient scope and verge for the aspirations now developing in the young artist. Designing patterns for oil cloth, wall papers, &c, was not likely to satisfy the heart and brain of a lad capable, eventually, of imagining and carrying out 4 The Casuals ' and 6 The Widower.' So, in 1863, he attached himself to the South Kensington Schools, and laboured diligently henceforth, until, by the time 1866 came round, he succeeded in getting himself admitted a student of the Royal Academy. About the early part of 1869 he entered into an engagement with Charles Dickens, through Messrs. Chapman & Hall, to illustrate i Edwin Drood,' and this led to that close intimacy between artist and author which would have ripened into an affectionate friendship had it not been cut short all too soon by the lamented death of the latter. At the end of this same year, the first number of the Graphic appeared, and its first page at once riveted the attention of all good judges of art, for on it figured conspicuously 'The Casuals,' the drawing which, five years later, was destined to be developed into the picture which established Mr. Fildes' reputation as an artist of the highest capabilities. Meanwhile, Dickens never lived to see the triumph of his young colleague, but most of us can remember how appropriately, but painfully, the association of the two was carried on, as it were, for a time, by the large wood drawing which the artist made of the study at Gad's Hill, and called 6 The Empty Chair.' While pursuing this, and such work as * The Dead Napoleon,' 'The Bashful Model,' &c, Mr. Fildes was earnestly striving to master the technique of oil-colour. 88 ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE Hitherto, except through a few modest water-colour land- scapes, no one knew him except by his work in ' black and white ;' but, in 1872, he rather astonished those who had thus known of him, by exhibiting at the Royal Academy his first oil picture, entitled, c Fair, Quiet and Sweet Rest.' This Watteau-like water party was followed the next year by a smaller canvas in a somewhat similar key, called ' Simple- tons.' These, nevertheless, did not promise to lead to such a performance as that which, in 1874, drove home and clinched the reputation the Lancashire lad had by degrees been winning, viz., ' Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward.' Marrying soon after this, Mr. Fildes paid a lengthened visit to Paris, and — exhibiting in 1875 at the Royal Academy, ' Betty,' a powerfully executed figure of a buxom milkmaid — his next great effort was 'The Widower,' exhibited in 1876. This, and ' The Return of a Penitent,' in 1879, served to fully establish his reputation on a high level amongst the younger artists of the day, and to more than justify the award of the medals at Vienna and Philadelphia, and the honour of the Associateship which was conferred upon him in May, 1879, by the Royal Academy. W. W. Fenn, Magazine of Art, vol. 3. In 1878 Mr. Fildes went to Venice, where he stayed for some considerable time, and in that year did not exhibit in the Academy. One of the results of this visit to the beautiful Italian city was ' The Venetian Fruit Seller,' being the portrayal of a charming episode of daily life in the town of lagoons. Another well-liked picture, which was exhibited in 1883, was ' The Village Wedding.' But unquestionably Mr. Fildes' chef d^mivre as a subject painter was the great BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 8 9 picture of 1890, 'The Doctor.' This monumental work of art was painted at the request of Air. Henry Tate, the generous donor of the National Gallery of British Art, and cost the artist, as may be supposed, much thought, much labour, and no little travel in search of the objects which would serve as accessories to the background of his work. But his effort was not made in vain, for ' The Doctor ' was universally acknowledged to be one of the great pictures of the century. Both of these last-mentioned works have been most charmingly reproduced by Messrs. Thos. Agnew c\: Sons. In 1887, the year in which he was elected an Academician, Mr. Tildes exhibited a portrait of his wife, and since that period all those who desire to have their linea- ments charmingly immortalised for the sake of future genera- tions make more demands on Mr. Tildes' brush than it is auite convenient to the great master to comply with. In 1893, it will be remembered, he painted the Duke of York and his fair Duchess, and in 1894, besides the portrait of the Princess of Wales, he exhibited in the Academy pictures of Mrs. Robert Yerburgh and Mrs. Pantia Ralli. We hope that his triumphs in portraiture will not lead Mr. Tildes to deprive all lovers of true art of the pleasure of seeing more of his pictures conceived in the same spirit as ' The Doctor.' The Court Circular. His principal works in addition to those mentioned above are : — ' Doubts,' 4 Dolly,' and a 4 Venetian ' . . .1881 4 Nina' 1882 4 Venetian Life,' and £ A Venetian Flower Girl ' . 1884 4 Venetians,' and 4 Rosetta ' ..... 1885 4 The Flower Girl,' and 4 A Daughter of the Lagoons ' 1886 4 Mrs. Luke Fildes,' and 4 Mrs. W. L. Agnew' . 1887 4 Sisters 1889 90 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE 1 Mrs. Thomas Agnew 1890 'Ethel, daughter of T. H. Ismay, Esq.' . . . 1892 ' Portrait of a Lady 5 ...... 1893 WILLIAM POWELL FRITH, R.A. (Retired). William Powell Frith was born at Studley, near Ripon, in 1819 ; he lost his father while he was still young. In 1835 he entered the Art Academy, conducted by Mr. Sass, where he studied for three years. In 1839 he exhibited, at the British Institution, a portrait of one of the children of his preceptor. This was followed, in 1840, by 'Othello and Desdemona ' and ' Malvolio before the Countess Olivia ; ' and, in 1841, by his ' Parting Interview between Leicester and Amy Robsart' In 1842 appeared a scene from ' The Vicar of Wakefield,' representing Olivia and the Squire trying to ascertain which was the taller. This picture was purchased on the first day of the Exhibition. Three years later he con- tributed the well-known picture of the ' Village Pastor/ which was the means of placing him on the roll of Associates of the Royal Academy. In 1847 ne produced a large picture of 6 English Merry-making a Hundred Years ago ; ' and in 1849, hi s picture, 6 Coming of Age,' in the same vein, was a great popular success. In 1854, Mr. Frith's 'Life at the Seaside ' was bought by the Queen. The famous picture, k The Derby Day ' (now in the National Gallery), was ex- hibited at the Royal Academy in 1858. The interest excited by this work was so great that it was found necessary to protect it by a barrier from the pressure of the crowds who daily thronged to see it. ' The Railway Station,' purchased by the l^te Mr. FJato\y from Mr. Frith, was ex- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 91 hibited, at a gallery in the Haymarket, in 1862 ; and at the Academy, in 1865, appeared ' The Marriage of their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Princess Alexandra of Denmark, in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, March 10, 1863' (painted for the Queen); and, in 1868, 4 Before Dinner at Boswell's Lodgings in Bond Street, 1769,' which work was sold in 1875 for ^4,567. Of later works, in the manner of his old successes ' The Railway Station,' &c, Mr. Frith's most ambitious have been ' The Private View of the Royal Academy,' 1881, and, the Hogarthian series, the well- known 'Road to Ruin,' 1878. Mr. Frith is a member of the Academies of Vienna, Belgium, and Sweden. Men of the Time. THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R.A. Thomas Gainsborough was born at Sudbury, in Suffolk, in the spring of 1727. After evincing a decided ability for landscape painting, by his unaided attempts from nature, he left Sudbury for London when he was fourteen years of age, and became the pupil first of Gravelot, the engraver ; then of Francis Hayman, at that time a painter of repute, and, like Gainsborough himself, one of the original members of the Royal Academy, which was founded in 1768. Gainsborough set up as a portrait and landscape painter in Hatton Garden, but without success ; and, after four years' residence in the metropolis, he returned to his native place. When still a youth, he married Margaret Burr, a young lady of some fortune, and settled in Ipswich. One of his first pictures which attracted notice was a view of Landguard 9 2 ROYAL HOLLOW AY COLLEGE Fort, of which there is a print by Major ; the picture has perished. His reputation extending, he settled, in 1760, in Bath, as a more suitable field for the exercise of his abilities. At Bath much of his time was devoted to portraiture, which appears subsequently to have divided his attention with landscape painting. In 1774 he settled in London, and rented a portion of Schomberg House, Pall Mall ; from this period his reputation was such that he was considered at the same time the rival of Sir Joshua Reynolds in portrait, and of Wilson in landscape painting. He was one of the original members of the Royal Academy, and sent pictures to its exhibitions from the commencement in 1769, but ceased to contribute after 1783. He exhibited altogether 96 works at the Academy. He died in London, August 2, 1788, and was buried in Kew churchyard. 1 Shortly after Gainsborough's death, Sir Joshua Rey- nolds, then President of the Royal Academy, delivered a discourse to the students, of which the ' Character of Gainsborough ' was the subject. In this he alludes to Gainsborough's method of handling — his habit of hatcJiin^. ' All those odd scratches and marks,' he observes, 'which, on a close examination, are so observable in Gainsborough's pictures, and which, even to experienced painters, appear rather the effect of accident than design, — this chaos, this uncouth and shapeless appearance — by a kind of magic, at a certain distance, assume form, and all the parts seem to drop into their proper places ; so that we can hardly refuse acknowledging the full effect of diligence, under the appearance of chance and hasty negligence.' He observes, 1 Edwards, Anecdotes of Painters who have resided or been born in England, &c. London, 1808. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 93 in another place, ' Whether he most excelled in portraits, landscapes, or fancy pictures, it is difficult to determine.' 1 Among Gainsborough's most popular pictures are : the youth in a blue satin dress, known as 'The Blue Boy,' the portrait of the Hon. Mrs. Graham (now in the Edin- burgh Gallery), 'The Shepherd Boy in the Shower,' 1 The Cottage Door,' ' The Cottage Girl with Dog and Pitcher,' * The Shepherd Boys with their Dogs fighting,' and ' The Woodman and his Dog in the Storm.' 2 Gains- borough is said never to have put his name to any picture. 3 He died in possession of 56 of his pictures and 148 draw- ings, which were exhibited at his house in March, 1789. Many were sold on this occasion, and the remainder at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods', June 2, 1792. 4 National Gallery Catalogue. As a colourist he ranks with Rubens, and in technical work Ruskin says that ' Turner is a child to him.' His life work consisted of upwards of 300 pictures, of which over 220 were portraits. George III. was painted eight times, Pitt seven times, Garrick five times. Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Eng7'avers. The following are some of his most famous pictures in public galleries : — < The Market Cart. 5 In the National Gallery. ' The Watering Place.' In the National Gallery, 4 Musidora bathing her feet.' In the National Gallery. ■ Woody Landscape, Sunset.' In the National Gallery. ' Portrait of Mrs. Siddons. ' In the National Gallery. 1 Discourse XIV., delivered December 10, 178S. 2 This picture was burnt at Eaton Park. 3 Edwards, Anecdotes, &c. 4 See Eulcher, Life of Gainsborough, i2mo, London, 1856. 94 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE ' Portrait of Ralph Schomberg, M.D.' In the National Gallery. 4 Portrait of Orpin, Parish Clerk of Bradford, Wilts.' In the National Gallery. * Portraits of Mrs. Sheridan and Mrs. Tickell.' In the Dulwich Gallery. * Portrait of P. J. de Loutherbourg, R. A.' In the Dulwich Gallery. 1 Portrait of George Coin) an.' In the National Portrait Gallery. * Portrait of Fischer, the Musician.' At Hampton Court. 1 Portrait of Colonel St. Leger.' At Hampton Court. PETER GRAHAM, R.A. Mr. Peter Graham was born at Edinburgh in 1836. He became a student of the School of Design in that city, and was trained, especially for a figure painter. He continued several years to paint figure subjects and portraits, but felt more strongly attracted to landscape painting, and so gradually passed over to that branch of art. In i860 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy. He came to reside in London in 1866. In the Royal Academy Exhibition of that year he had a picture called ' A Spate in the Highlands/ which at once gained public attention, and was made the subject of much animated comment. Among the other pictures by Mr. Peter Graham which have from time to time been exhibited, are, the one sold by Messrs. Christie, Manson and Woods', from Mr. Gillott's collection, which is called ' On the Way to the Cattle Tryst ; ' ' Autumnal Showers,' which is now in the National Gallery at Melbourne in Australia ; < The Cradle of the Sea Bird,' ' Wind,' 4 Our Northern Walls,' and 'A Highland Croft.' The merits of these works have been generally acknowledged. The Illustrated Londo?i News, February 17, 1877. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 95 Mr. Graham was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1877, and a Royal Academician in 1881. In addition to those above mentioned his principal works are : — ' Moorland Rovers.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1876 * A Glint of Sunshine ' ,, ,, . 1877 1 The Gently-heaving Tide ' ,, .1877 ' W andering Shadows ' ,, „ . 1878 4 The Seabird's Resting Place ' ,, . 1879 ' Where Deep Seas moan ' ,, . 1879 1 A Mountain Road' ,, . 1881 ' The Inflowing Tide 1 . 1882 4 Dawn ' „ . 1884 1 Evening ' ,, . 1885 4 Sea-girt Crags ' . 1886 ' An Easterly Breeze ' ,, . 1887 * The Mist Wreath has the Mountain Crest.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy in . . . . . . . . 1889 ' Departing Day.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1890 ' Morning Mists ' . 1891 1 Sunshine and Shower ' ,, . 1892 4 Summer Mists ' ,, . 1893 4 The Head of the Loch ' . 1894 FREDERICK DANIEL HARDY. Frederick Daniel Hardy was born at Windsor in February, 1826, and for many years followed the profession of music, but ultimately relinquished it for painting, for which he imbibed a taste from his father. In 185 1 he commenced exhibiting at the Royal Academy those small but highly finished domestic interiors, for which he is now so well known ; producing at successive exhibitions works of the same character, but of greater pretensions. Among these may be mentioned 1 The Interior of a 9 6 ROYAL HOLLOW AY COLLEGE Kitchen,' with a peasant and an old woman at a fire, painted in 1855 for the late Mr. Samuel Cartwright (15 x 10); sold at Christie's, February, 1865, for £44; 1 Richard and Kate ' (from Bloomfield's ' Rural Tales '), painted for Mr. S. Cartwright, and exhibited in 1856 (23 x 16) ; sold at Christie's, February, 1865, for ^162 15s. ; ' The Foreign Guest,' exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1859; < The Crash,' i860; < Early Sorrow,' 1861 ; ' The Sweep,' 1862 (engraved and published by Messrs. Graves, 1865); 4 The Playing at Doctors,' 1863 (engraved and published by Messrs. Graves, 1865) > 'The Pedlar,' 1864. Ottlev s Dictionary of Recent and Living Painters and Engravers. JOHN EVAN HODGSON, R.A. John Evan Hodgson was born in London, March r, 1 83 1, and spent some of his early years in Russia, where his father established himself as a merchant in 1835. ^ n 1853 young Hodgson came back to England and entered the schools of the Royal Academy. His first picture was exhibited in 1856, since which time he has been a regular exhibitor. He began with domestic subjects, but painted historical pictures from 1861 to 1869, when his visit to Northern Africa set him upon subjects of Moorish life. He was elected a Royal Academician, December 18, 1879. His principal pictures are : — < The Patriot Wife' 1859 'A Rehearsal of Music in a Farmhouse' . . . i860 4 Sir Thomas More's Daughter in Holbein's Studio ' . 1861 ' First Sight of the Armada '..... 1863 ' Queen Elizabeth at Purfleet ' . . . . . 1864 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 97 * Jewess accused of Witchcraft ' .... 1866 'Evensong' ........ 1867 ' Arab Story-teller ' 1869 < The Basha's Black Guards ' 1870 'The Outpost' 187 1 'Jack Ashore ' 1873 ' Returning the Salute ' ...... 1874 ' A Barber's Shop in Tunis ' 1875 ' Following the Plough ' 1876 ' Relatives in Bond ' 1877 ' An Eastern Question' 1878 ' Gehazi, the Servant of Elisha ' .... 1879 ' Homeward Bound ' 1880 ' Painter and Critic,' ' Hobbema's Country ' . . 1882 ' Off Duty,' ' Ragass-el-ma, the Water Dance ' . . 1883 ' Flat Perjury ' and ' Here Nelson Fell' . . . 1884 ' Don Quixote and the Galley Slaves ' . . . 1885 'A Haven of Rest ' 1887 ' Between the Showers ' ...... 1892 ' Rural England 9 1893 Men of the Time. FRANK HOLL, R.A. Born in the year 1845 at St. James's Terrace, Kentish Town, Frank Holl received from his father, an engraver, his first training in art. At the early age of fifteen he entered the schools of the Royal Academy, and from the day, two years later, when he gained his first distinction— a premium and the silver medal for the best drawing from the antique — to June 19, 1878, when he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, his advance has been steady, from success to success. In 1863 he received the gold medal and a scholarship of ^25 for two years, for the best historical painting; 'Abraham about H 9 8 ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE to sacrifice Isaac' was his subject. In 1864 he exhibited his first Academy picture, * Turned out of Church ; ' in 1865 'Fern Gatherers;' in 1866 ' The Ordeal,' and in 1867 'The Convalescent.' In 1869 Mr. Frank Hoi obtained from the Academy the two years' travelling studentship, for a painting entitled c The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away.' This picture was his intro- duction to the outside world, and, when the Queen visited the Academy, it attracted her attention so favourably, that on learning she could not be the possessor of it — it was already sold — Her Majesty gave the artist a commission for another work. 'No Tidings from the Sea ' — the picture painted for the Queen, and representing the wife of a seaman in suspense during a storm in which her husband is out — appeared in 187 1. In 1878, Mr. Holl commanded still more general attention by his great picture of prison life, ' Newgate — Committed for trial.' The subject was one which Sir Edwin Landseer is said to have regarded as most specially dramatic and pictorial ; it may be, however, that this great artist knew his own smooth completeness of manner to be ill suited to the rude tragedy of such a scene ; and in the event it fell to fit hands, and was treated with a gloomy reality, an uncompromising power which gained consider- ably from the impulsiveness and freedom of the execution. Mr. Frank Holl has not gained the praises of Europe alone. At the American Centennial Exhibition of 1876, his work was singled out for the distinction of a medal. It is in his thorough study of light that Mr. Holl's greatest technical successes have been achieved ; he chooses Nature in her striking moments, but it is always BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 99 to Nature he goes ; we do not find him indulging himself with an arbitrary effectiveness. Wilfred Meynell, Magazine of Art, vol. 3. Mr. Holl died on July 31, 1888, from heart disease, at his residence, The Three Gabies, Fitzjohn's Avenue, Hampstead. He had been a Royal Academician for four years. The funeral, on August 7, was attended by Lord Wolseley, Sir Frederic Leighton, P.R.A., Sir John Millais, and most of Mr. Holl's most eminent fellow- In addition to those above mentioned, his principal works are : — ' The Village Funeral ' . . . . . .1872 k A Seat in a Railway Station' ..... 1873 ' Going Home,' ' Gone,' ' Want, her Poverty, but not her Will consents '...... 1877 ' Mr. Samuel Cousins, R.A.' . . . . . 1878 * Widowed,' ' Absconded ' ..... 1879 ' H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge' .... 1883 'H.R.H. the Prince of Wales,' ' Did you ever kill anybody, Father?' ...... 1884 ' The Earl of Duflferin ' 1885 'Sir John E. Millais, Bart., R.A. Mr. Holl's Di- ploma Work, and * The Right Hon. J. Chamber- lain, M.P.' 1886 'Sir George O. Trevelyan, Bart.,' 'The Earl of Var- borough,' and ' Lord Richard Grosvenor,' now Lord Stalbridge 1887 'H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, K.G., as an Elder Brother of the Trinity House ' .... 1888 artists. ' Deserted ' ' Her First-born ' i8 74 1876 100 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE JAMES HOLLAND. James Holland was born at Burslem in 1800, and in his boyhood painted flowers on pottery in the manufactory of James Davenport. He came to London in 18 19, and for some time supported himself by teaching, and painting flowers, exhibiting flower pieces at the Royal Academy from 1824. It was not till after a visit to Paris in 1831 that he devoted himself to landscape painting, and his works henceforth are a record, brilliant in colours, of his various tours on the Continent. Holland was elected an Associate of the Water Colour Society in 1856, and a full Member in 1858. He was also a Member of the Society of British Artists from 1843 to 1848. He died in London in 1870. Amongst his principal works are : — 4 London, from Blackheath,' 1833. 4 St. Lawrence, Rotterdam ; an October Morning.' 4 The Port of Genoa, Moonlight.' In the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. 4 Interior of Milan Cathedral.' At Gresharn College. 4 Tomb of the Scaligers, Verona.' At Gresharn College. 4 St. Mary's Chapel, Warwick.' At Gresharn College. 4 Greenwich Hospital.' In the Bridgewater Gallery. 4 Piazza dei Signori, Verona. ' In the Royal Holloway College. 4 La Festa.' Water Colour. 4 Venice ; Sunset.' Water Colour. 4 The Rialto.' Water Colour. 4 Near Ramsgate Harbour.' Water Colour. In the South Kensington Museum. 4 Heath Scene.' Water Colour. In the South Kensington Museum. Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES IOI JAMES CLARKE HOOK, R.A. James Clarke Hook was born in London, November 21, 1 8 19. His father, Mr. James Hook, was the Judge Arbitrator in the Mixed Commission Courts, Sierra Leone, and his mother was the second daughter of Dr. Adam Clarke, the biblical commentator. The future artist was entered as a student of the Royal Academy in 1836, where he took the first medals in the life and painting Schools in 1842. He obtained the Gold Medal for historical painting in 1845, tne subject being 4 The Find- ing of the Body of Harold.' In 1846 he obtained the travelling pension of the Royal Academy for two years, and in the same year married the third daughter of Mr. James Burton, solicitor, and went to Italy. Of the works in his earlier class of subjects may be mentioned : ' Pam- philus relating his Story,' 1844; ' The Song of Olden Time/ 1845 ; 'The Controversy between the Lady Jane Grey and Feckenham,' 1846; i Bassanio commenting on the Caskets/ 1847; 6 The Chevalier Bayard wounded at Brescia/ ''Othello's first Suspicion/ 1849; ' A. Dream of Venice/ 1850. Mr. Hook was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1850, and attained the full honours of the Academy in i860. He exhibited ' The Rescue of the Brides of Venice/ 185 1 ; 'Othello's description of Desdemona,' 1852; and 'Gratitude of the Mother of Moses for the Safety of her Child/ 1855. About this period Mr. Hook returned to his first inclination, and de- 102 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE voted himself chiefly to pastoral and modern subjects. Of these we may instance : — 4 The Birthplace of the Streamlet 9 4 The Coast Boy gathering Eggs ' ' Luff, Boy ! ' 1 The Trawlers ' * Leaving at Low Water, Scilly Isles 5 * As Jolly as a Sandboy ' . 'The Samphire Gatherer 3 4 A Gull Catcher,' and 4 The Coral Pusher, Amain" ' * Little to earn, and Many to keep/ and 4 Mushroom Gatherers 5 ...... 4 Home with the Tide 4 Diamond Merchants, Cornwall,' and 4 Past Work ' * Caller H err in 4 Catching a Mermaid/ and 4 The Wily Angler * 4 The Mirror of the Sea-mew ' . 'The Stream,' and 4 The Close of Day ' * The Salmon Pool ' . 4 Fresh from the Waves/ and ' Tickling Trout ' . 4 Wreckage from the Fruiter } .... 4 Summer Pleasures * ..... 4 The Sea-mew's Nest ' 4 Good Liquor— duty free ' .... 4 Seed-time Men of the JOHN CALLCOTT HORSLEY, R.A. John Callcott Horsi ..ey, son of the late William Horsley, the well-known musician, and grand-nephew of the late Sir Augustus Callcott, the eminent painter, was born in London, January 29, 181 7. His first exhibited picture, ' Rent-day at Haddon Hall in the Sixteenth Century,' was spoken of in high terms by Wilkie. 4 The Pride of the Village' was the first work Mr. Horsley exhibited in the Royal Academy, and is now in the Vernon BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 103 Gallery; it was followed in 1840 by 'The Contrast — Youth and Age;' and ' Leaving the Ball' in 1841, 'Winning Gloves' in 1842, and 'The Father's Grave' in 1843. In the latter year Mr. Horsley's cartoon of 'St. Augustine preaching' gained at Westminster Hall one of the three prizes in the second rank of £200, and in the trial of skill, in 1844, he obtained by his two small frescoes a place among the six painters commissioned to execute further samples for the Palace at Westminster. That of 1845, for 'Religion,' was approved, and the subject executed at large in the House of Lords. In 1847, his colossal oil painting, ' Henry V., believing the King dead, assumes the Crown,' secured a premium of the third class. Another fresco, which he had been employed to execute, ' Satan surprised at the Ear of Eve,' is to be seen in a portion of the New Palace, called Poets' Hall. In 1882 Mr. Horsley was elected Treasurer of the Royal Academy, and he has been very active in bringing together the magnificent collections of ' Old Masters,' displayed every winter since 1870, at Burlington House. Amongst his later works are : — 4 Malvolio i' the Sun practising to his own Shadow.' 1 Hospitality.' * L' Allegro and II Penseroso ' (painted for the late Prince Albert). 4 Lady Jane Grey and Roger Aschauu' 4 The Holy Communion. * * The Lost Found.' 4 The New Dress.' 4 Under the Mistletoe.' 4 The Duenna and her Cares/ 4 The Gaoler's Daughter.' 4 The Banker's Private Room * Pay for Peeping.' 104 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE ' Stolen Glances.' * Sunny Moments.' 4 The Healing Mercies of Christ ; ' a large religious subject with figures of colossal size, painted as an Altar-piece tor the Chapel of St. Thomas's Hospital. 1 The World forgetting. ' * Mr. and Mrs. Jessop.' * Mr. and Mrs. Edward Tomlin.' 'A Merry Chase in Haddon Hall.' ' Wedding Rings. ' ' Hide and Seek.' ' Young Life on Old Ground.' ' Finishing Touches.' 4 Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, K.C.M.G.' ' Isambard Brunei, Esq., D.C. L.' Men of the Time. SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A. Sir Edwin Landseer was the third son of John Landseer, the engraver, and was born in London on March 7, 1802. He was educated in art by his father before he became a student of the Royal Academy, and he received also some instruction from Haydon, the historical painter. Edwin Landseer displayed his great ability while still very young, having obtained a medal from the Society of Arts at the early age of 13, for a drawing of a large Alpine mastiff, of which there is an etching by his brother Thomas. But he first attracted general notice by pictures exhibited at the Gallery of the Society of Artists in Spring Gardens. His name appears in the Royal Academy Catalogues for the first time in 181 7, in his 16th year, when he exhibited the ' Portrait of a Dog.' In 1820 he sent to the British Institution his large picture of 1 Alpine Mastiffs re-animating a Distressed Traveller ; ' and in 1822 he obtained from the BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 105 same institution the premium of ^150, for his picture of i The Larder invaded.' These works attracted great notice, and established for the painter an unrivalled reputation in his own department of art ; and which was more than maintained by the long series of pictures which followed them, on the walls of the Royal Academy, and at the British Institution. Besides his pictures of animals, he painted several portraits. In 1826 he exhibited at the Royal Academy 'The Hunting of Chevy Chase,' and was in that year made an Associate of the Academy. In 1829 appeared the 6 Illicit Whisky Still in the Highlands.' He was elected an Academician in the following year. In 1850 he received the honour of knighthood from Her Majesty. From 1817 to 1873 inclusive, Sir Edwin exhibited alto- gether at the Academy 175 pictures, in 51 years ; he having failed to contribute on six occasions only during that long interval of 57 years. He was likewise a constant exhibitor at the British Institution, but often exhibiting there works already shown at the Royal Academy. Besides those above named, the following are some of Sir Edwin Landseer's more celebrated works : — Exhibited at the Royal Academy — 'Hawking' 1832 4 A Jack in Office ' 1833 1 Bolton Abbey ' 1834 4 The Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner "... 1837 4 The Life's in the Old Dog yet ' . . . .1838 4 Van Amburgh and his Animals' .... 1839 4 Laying down the Law ' ...... 1840 4 Otter and Salmon ' . ...... 1842 4 The Otter speared ' and 4 Shoeing ' . . . . 1844 4 The Shepherd's Prayer ' . ..... 1845 4 Time of Peace,' 4 Time of War,' and 4 Stag at Bay ' . 184 I06 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE * Sketch of my Father ' and * Alexander and Diogenes ' 1848 i A Dialogue at Waterloo ' ..... 1850 * Titania and Bottom ' . . . . . .1851 * Night 'and 'Morning 5 ...... 1853 * Uncle Tom and his Wife for Sale' .... 1857 < The Maid and the Magpie ' 1858 * The Shrew tamed ' ...... 1861 * Man proposes : God disposes ' .... 1864 * The Connoisseurs ' (containing his own portrait, en- graved by S. Cousins, R.A. ) .... 1865 ' Her Majesty at Osborne ' 1867 * The Swanery invaded by Sea Eagles' . . . 1869 At the British Institution — 4 The Cat's Paw ' 1824 ' Highland Music' 1830 < Low-life,' and < High-life ' 1831 4 The Sleeping Bloodhound ' 1835 4 Dignity and Impudence ' ..... 1839 Many of the above works have been admirably engraved by his brother, Thomas Landseer, A.R.A., by S. Cousins, R.A., and others. The engravings already made after his works exceed in number 300 ; and he himself etched several of his own compositions. Sir Edwin was awarded the large gold medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855, and the medal for Fine Arts at the Vienna Exhibition of 1873. He died at his house in St. John's Wood on October 1, 1873, and received the honour of a public funeral in St. Paul's Cathedral. National Gallery Catalogue. BENJAMIN WILLIAMS LEADER, A. R.A. Benjamin Williams Leader, son of the late Mr. E. Leader Williams, C.E., was born at Worcester, March 12, 1 83 1. He received his earliest instruction in art at the BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 107 School of Design in his native city. In 1854 he was admitted a student in the Royal Academy, and in the same year exhibited his first picture, ' Cottage Children blowing Bubbles,' which was bought by an American gentleman for ^50. Two years later Mr. Leader visited Scotland, having till then seen no hills higher than the Malverns. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy January 16, 1883, and has exhibited pictures there since 1856. His most important pictures since then are : — 4 A Moated Grange ' 1 868 4 The Streams through the Birch Wood ' . . .1871 ' Mountain Solitude ' 1873 'Wild Waters 5 1875 * An English Hayfield ' and 4 A November Evening after Rain ' 1876 * The Valley of Clear Springs' ..... 1877 1 View of the Wetterhorn ' 1878 * The Last Gleam ' ....... 1879 4 A Gleam in the Storm ' ...... 1880 4 February Fill Dyke 5 1881 * In the Evening there shall be Light 5 1882 4 Parting Day ' and 4 An Autumn Evening ' . . 1883 ' With Verdure clad,' ' The End of the Day,' ' When the West with Evening glows ' .... 1886 * Sunset after a Shower,' 4 The smooth Severn Stream,' 4 An April Day' 1887 4 An old English Homestead ' 1888 * The Dawn of an Autumn Day ' 1889 4 The Sandy Margin of the Sea ' 1890 * Manchester Ship Canal' . ..... 1891 4 Conway Bay' ....... 1892 4 An old Country Church,' 4 By Mead and Stream ' . 1893 4 A Wet Roadside,' and 4 Worcester Cathedral ' . . 1894 Several of his pictures have been very successfully etched by Chauvel and Brunet-Debaines. Men of the Time. io8 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE HENRY STORMONTH LEIFCHILD. Henry Stormonth Leifchild was the fourth son of the late William Gerard Leifchild, of Moorgate Street, and Wanstead, Essex, and was born in 1824. At an early age he entered his father's office in the City of London, but his love for art, which had evinced itself from boyhood, soon drew him away to more congenial occupations, and he passed into the schools of the Royal Academy. After a short course of study in the Antique School, he proceeded to Rome, where he was residing at the time of the siege of the city by the French in 1848. Returning to England in 1850, he settled down to the life of a sculptor, occupying studios near the Regent's Park, where he remained for five- and-twenty years, devoting himself exclusively to carrying out those aims in art which he had set before himself from the first. Not dependent upon his art for his daily bread, he was enabled to embody his thoughts in a series of ideal works in a purely sculpturesque style, and in most cases of heroic size. Casts of the more important of these works are in the Museum at Nottingham. During the last few years of his life his health suffered as a consequence of the trying physical conditions of a sculptor's life, and he removed to Streatham in the South of London, where he died in November, 1884. It was said of him by the Times, in an obituary notice, that ' Mr. Leifchild aimed somewhat too high to hit the public taste ; but he held firmly to his own ideal through thirty years of art production, and had long matured a style in which mastery of form was combined with high imaginative expression. This was conspicuous in his larger BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES icg works, but his statuettes, busts, and his numerous drawings were also characterised by the same purity and depth of sentiment.' G. B. B. E. BLAIR LEIGHTON. E. Blair Leighton was born in London in 1853 ; his father, an artist, died when his son was only two years old. It was through this misfortune that the youth, at fifteen years of age, was apprenticed to a tea merchant in the City, instead of following his father's profession, as it was his anxious desire to do. He remained at the desk until he was 21, and then, having saved a little money out of his salary, gained permis- sion to draw from the statues in the British Museum, in order to compete for a studentship at the Royal Academy, which he gained the following year. Two years afterwards he painted 'The Flaw in the Title,' his first picture exhibited at Burlington House. Mr. Blair Leighton was elected a Member of the Insti- tute of Painters in Oil Colours in 1886. His principal works have been exhibited at the Royal Academy, and are as follows : — ' A Flaw in the Title ' 1878 ' Till Death us do part ' ...... 1879 ' The Dying Copernicus ' ...... 1880 ' Un Gage d* Amour ' ...... 1881 * The Foreign Bride' ...... 1882 'Duty' ^83 1 Conquest ' 1884 ' The Secret ' 1885 ' The Confessional ' 1886 I 10 ROYAL HQLLO WAY COLLEGE 'Romola' 1887 'Fame' ......... 1889 ' How Lisa loved the King 1890 1 Lady Godiva ' . . .... 1892 ' Sorrow and Song ' . . . . . . . l &93 1 Launched in Life ' . . . . . . . 1894 J. HENRY LE JEUNE, A.R.A. (Retired). Henry Le Jeune, historical painter, was born in London in 1820, and, after studying for some time at the British Museum, was admitted a student at the Royal Academy in 1834. Here he obtained several prizes, including, in 1841, the Gold Medal in historical painting, for his picture of ' Samson bursting his Bonds.' In the previous year he had exhibited at the Royal Academy ' Joseph interpreting the Dream of Pharaoh's Butler.' The ' Samson ' was exhibited at the British Institution in 1842, and in the same year ' Una and the Lion ' at the Royal Academy. Amongst his subsequent works were : — 4 Prospero and Miranda' ...... 1844 ' Ruth and Boaz ' 1845 * Bassanio choosing the Casket ' and ' The Liberation of the Slaves' 1847 ' Pan teaching Apollo '...... 1848 ' Ophelia ' and ' Lear and Cordelia ' .... 1849 < Martha reproved ' 1S50 4 The Sermon on the Mount ' 185 1 ' Master, what shall I do to inherit Eternal Life? ' . 1852 < Infant Prayer ' 1853 ' The Plough ' and ' Christ blessing Little Children ' . 1855 * Little Gretchen ' and ' Mary Magdalen at the Se- pulchre' 1856 ' The Vision of Queen Catherine ' .... 1857 * The Early Days of Timothy ' and i Children gathering Water Lilies' 1858 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES I 1 1 Mr. Le Jeune's style is pleasing in sentiment, particularly n subjects where females and children are introduced, but somewhat deficient in vigour. In 1845 he was appointed a Master at the School of Design, which post he resigned in 1848, when he was appointed Curator of the School of Painting at the Royal Academy. He was elected an Asso- ciate of the Royal Academy in March, 1863. Ottley's Dictionary of Recent and Living Painters and Engravers. JOHN LINNELL Was born in London in 1792, and, having shown an early taste for art, entered the schools of the Royal Academy in his fourteenth year, by the advice of Benjamin West, then President. He also studied under John Varley, and made so much progress that in 1807 he was able to contribute two works to the Royal Academy Exhibition, viz. ' A Study from Nature ' and a 'View near Reading.' In the same year he gained a medal for modelling from the life at the Royal Academy, and in 1809 the British Institution awarded him a prize of fifty guineas for a landscape en- titled 'Removing Timber.' While quite a young man he formed an intimate friend- ship with Mulready, and for some time the two artists lived together. At this early period of his career Linnell devoted himself to more than one branch of art, including engrav- ing and portrait painting in miniature. He also gave lessons in drawing. In 1810 he exhibited 6 Fishermen waiting the Return of the Ferry Boat, Hastings,' and the following year 1 A Scene from Nature,' at the Roya! 112 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Academy, but for ten years afterwards no work of his appeared at Somerset House. From 1818 to 1820 he con- tributed to an exhibition opened in Spring Gardens by the Society of Painters in Water Colours, which for a short period admitted works executed in oil. Linnell's name has of late years been chiefly associated with landscape painting, but half a century ago his portraits were well- known. Among the persons more or less distinguished who sat to him were Lord Ingestre, F. Baring, Samuel Rogers, Sir H. Torrens, and Lady Lyndhurst in 1830, Lord King and Sir Augustus Callcott in 1832, Mulready and Matthews in 1833, Lord Lansdowne and Lord Mont- eagle in 1835, Sir Robert Peel in 1838, W. Collins, R.A., Whately, Sterling, and Carlyle in 1844. Some of these portraits were engraved in mezzotint by the artist and pub- lished. Among the numerous and varied works which Linnell executed during his long and busy life were several land- scapes, which, from the scale and treatment of the figures, may be regarded as subject pictures. One of the first of these was exhibited in 1835 under the title of 'Christ's Appearance to the two Disciples journeying to Emmaus,' which attracted much notice. In the same category may be placed his * Christ and the Woman of Samaria,' ' The Disobedient Prophet,' 'The last Gleam before the Storm,' 4 Crossing the Brook,' 'The Timber Waggon,' 'Barley Harvest,' and ' Under the Hawthorn.' Linnell published ' Michael Angelo's Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel ' (illustrated by drawings said to have been made by his daughter, Mrs . Samuel Palmer), and another work entitled ' The Royal Gallery of Pictures ' (a selection BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 113 from the cabinet paintings in Buckingham Palace). He was also the author of some pamphlets. Although a fre- quent exhibitor at the Royal Academy, Mr. Linnell was never enrolled among its members, and late in life is sup- posed to have declined the honour of associateship. He resided for many years at Bayswater, but in 1852 he retired from London to Redhill, where he had built a house for himself, and where he died on January 20, 1882, in his 90th year. National Gallery Catalogue. The following are some of Linnell's last exhibited works : — ' Woods and Forests ' 1875 1 The Hollow Tree ' 1876 'Autumn' 1877 ' The Heath' 1878 * Fat Pasture ' and ' Sweet fa's the Eve ' . . .18 9 'The Wood-Cutter' 1881 EDWIN LONG, R.A. Mr. Edwin Long began his career and made his reputa- tion solely as a portrait-painter, and a hard struggle for some years he had of it. Composition was entirely beyond him, or, at least, outside his thoughts, excepting in so far as concerned the pose of the sitter. He had already achieved some success in this branch of art when he went to Spain, as most portrait-painters do, to worship at the shrine of Velasquez, and afterwards proceeded on good advice to Seville to study Murillo. He then determined to wait and see the religious ceremonies which were just about to begin. This decision really settled his career, for the 1 114 ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE very next day he perceived a beggar in front of a church holding aside a curtain for a lady and child to pass, and so picturesque was all the group, after the manner of the Spanish beggars and ladies, that on returning to his studio he made a sketch of the scene. This was his first com- position. The next year, on his return to England, he painted a picture from the sketch, but thought no more of it till his friend, Mr. Hardy, suggested its contribution to the exhibition of the British Institution. The picture was there hung upon the line, sold on private-view day, and was well criticised in the papers. All this success simply staggered the artist, who had built no hopes upon the matter, and evidently had been the victim of his own modesty. How many other artists can say as much ? He went now again to Spain, and returned with a harvest of pictures ; but his third visit was the most in- teresting, as well as the most successful. Whilst painting he bribed one of the uncouth shep- herds of Andalusia to sit to him, and struck by the enthu- siasm aroused in the man, to whom he paid a peseta, ac- tually allowed himself to be persuaded to join the man and his companions, and live with them for a month or more upon the mountains far away in the heart of the country, and this in spite of all the urgent warnings with which he was hotly plied by the English Consul. The result laid the foundation of his later success. i The Siege of Cadiz' was the outcome— a large picture full of small figures, and tiny but very carefully painted heads. This picture was skied at the Academy, and has since been sold at Christie's for ^2,000. This little incident reminds me that Mr. Long, most BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES academic of Academicians, most successful among suc- cessful artists, has had as hard a battle to fight, and as many cruel disappointments to endure, as any of the younger men whose * bitter cry of outcast artists ' is raised so loudly after every Academy Exhibition. In 1872 came 4 The Suppliants/ another picture of Spanish life [see page 13] ; but the chief landmark in Mr. Long's career is undoubtedly ' The Babylonian Marriage Market.' [See page 15.] In 1877 came * The Egyptian Feast,' with the mock mummy on a bier, as is so graphically told by Herodotus in t Euterpe.' In this work, rising higher than he had hitherto touched, he carried his antiquarian research to its uttermost point. Mr. Long's next success was the ' Gods and their Makers,' and the same idea was afterwards enlarged and developed into the vast ' Anno Domini,' exhibited in Bond Street. He has never entirely given up portraiture, how- ever, although it is not nearly so interesting an occupation for the imaginative painter. Among his sitters the best known are the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, Cardinal Manning, Mr. Cousins, Lord Iddesleigh, and Mr. Irving in the cha- racters both of ' Gloucester ' and 1 Hamlet.' M. H. Spielmann, The Graphic^ June 9, 1888. Edwin Long was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1876, and Royal Academician in 1882 ; he died on May 15, 1891. Some of his principal works are : — ' The Suppliants.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy . . 1872 1 The Babylonian Marriage Market.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy ......... 1875 1 2 Il6 ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE « The Pool of Bethesda.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy . 1876 * An Egyptian Feast' and 'An Ancient Custom.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy ....... 1877 'The Gods and their Makers ' and ' Henry Irving, as Richard, Duke of Gloucester.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy . 1878 ' Esther,' ' Vashti,' and ' The Right Rev. Christopher Words- worth, D.D., D.C.L., Lord Bishop of Lincoln.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy ....... 1879 * An Assyrian Captive.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy . 1880 4 Diana or Christ.' ,, ,, . 1881 i Why tarry the Wheels of his Chariots? Judges v. 28.' Ex- hibited at the Royal Academy ...... 1882 4 Merab' and 4 Michal.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy . 1883 4 Judith ' and 4 Thisbe ' „ „ „ .1884 4 Love's Labour Lost ' ,, . 1885 4 Sacred to Pasht ' ,, ,, ,, .1886 4 A Love Feast,' 4 Callista, the Image-maker,' and ( His Emi- nence Cardinal Manning.' Exhibited at the Royal Academy 1887 4 The Crown of Justification.' ,, 1888 DANIEL MACLISE, R.A. Daniel Maclise was born at Cork, January 25, 181 1. His father, a native of Scotland, who had served in the army, had established himself in business at Cork. Daniel Maclise was originally placed in a bank, but he left this when still very young, entered himself as a student in the Cork Society of Arts, and thus commenced that career by which he eventually gained his great reputation. In 1828 he was a student of the Royal Academy of Arts in Lon- don, where he obtained the gold medal for the best his- torical composition in 1831. He became an exhibitor at the Academy as early as 1829, when he was in his nineteenth year only ; his first picture was 6 Malvolio affect- ing the Count,' from ' Twelfth Night.' In 1833 he attracted BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 117 much notice by his picture of ' Mokanna unveiling his features to Zelica,' exhibited that year at the British Insti- tution, and by the still more able and characteristic work of 'Snapp-apple Night, or All Hallow Eve in Ireland,' ex- hibited the same year at the Royal Academy. From this time Maclise exhibited a long series of works of the highest ability, though not generally pleasing in their tone of colouring. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1835, and an Academician in 1840. The later years of his life were much engrossed by his compositions for the decoration of the Houses of Parliament, more especially for the two large pictures of ' The Meeting of Wellington and Blucher at Belle Alliance, after the Battle of Waterloo,' and the 4 Death of Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.' The noble cartoon of the former is now the property of the Royal Academy, which purchased it at the sale of his remaining works at Christie's on June 25, 1870. He executed many book illustrations, and has painted also a few portraits, among the latter one of Charles Dickens in 1839. Maclise died on April 25, 1870, just before the opening of the Royal Academy Exhibition. His friend Charles Dickens, a guest at the Academy dinner, pro- nounced, in the room where Maclise's last work — 'The Earls of Desmond and Ormond' — was hanging, a very eloquent and feeling eulogy on the deceased painter, thus speaking of his ability and character : ' Of his prodigious fertility of mind and wonderful wealth of intellect, I may confidently assert that they would have made him, if he had been so minded, at least as great a writer as he was a painter The gentlest and most modest of men ; the freshest as to his generous appreciation of young aspirants, u8 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE and the frankest and largest hearted as to his peers, in- capable of a sordid or ignoble thought, gallantly sustaining the true dignity of his vocation, without one grain of self- ambition, wholesomely natural at the last as at the first, " in wit a man, simplicity a child," — no artist of whatsoever denomination, I make bold to say, ever went to his rest leaving a golden memory more pure from dross, or having devoted himself with a truer chivalry to the art-goddess whom he worshipped.' These were the last public words of Dickens. National Gallery Catalogue. Some of this artist's principal pictures are : — ' Macbeth and the Witches,' 1836. ' Olivia and Sophia fitting out Moses for the Fair,' 1838. 1 Banquet Scene in Macbeth.' The property of the Earl of Chesterfield. 1840. 1 The Play Scene in Hamlet.' In the National Gallery. 1842. * The Return of Moses from the Fair,' 1850. * Peter the Great at Deptford Dockyard.' In the Royal Holloway College. 'The Origin of the Harp.' The property of Alan Potter, Esq. 1 Scene from Midas.' Belonging to Her Majesty. * The Ordeal of the Touch.' ' Comus.' A Fresco in the Pavilion of Buckingham Palace. * The Spirit of Justice ' and ( The Spirit of Chivalry,' Frescoes in the House of Lords. 1 Alfred in the Danish Camp.' In the Royal Gallery. * The Marriage of Strongbow to the Princess Eva.' In the Roya Gallery. 1 Portrait of Charles Dickens.' JOHN MacWHIRTER, R.A. John MacWhirter was born in 1839 at Slateford, near Edinburgh, and educated at Peebles. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1863. In the BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES following year he came to London, and was elected Associate of the Royal Academy on January 22, 1879. He was elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1882, and Member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in the same year. Men of the Time. Mr. MacVVhirter was elected a Royal Academician on May 4, 1893, and he has exhibited at the Royal Academy the following pictures : — ' Loch Cor. isk, Skye' 1867 * A great while ago the world began with Hey ho ! the wind and the rain' . . . . .1871 4 Night' 1874 'Caledonia' 1875 ' The Lady of the Woods,' and ' Spindrift ' . . 1876 ' The Three Graces ' 1878 ' The Valley by the Sea' . . . ' . . . 1879 ' The Lord of the Glen ' 1880 ' Mountain Tops ' 1 88 1 'A Highland Auction,' and ' Ossian's Grave' . . 1882 ' Sunset Fires,' and ' Nature's Mirror,' ' A Highland Harvest' 1883 'The Windings of the Forth,' 'A Sermon by the Sea,' and 'The Home of the Grizzly Bear' . . . 1884 ' The Track of the Hurricane,' and ' Iona' . . 1885 ' The Three Witches ' ...... 1886 ' Edinburgh, from the Salisbury Crags' . . . 1887 SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, Bart., R.A. Sir John Everett Millais was born at Southampton in 1829. The family of Millais has held for centuries a place among the lesser landlords in the Island of Jersey, where the name doubtless existed long prior to the Norman conquest of England. At the early age of nine years he began his art education in Mr. Sass's academy, and two 120 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE years later he became a student at the Royal Academy, where he gained the principal prizes for drawing. He gained his first medal at the Society of Arts when only nine. ' Pizarro seizing the Inca of Peru,' his first exhibited picture, was at the Academy in 1846, followed by a colossal cartoon at the Westminster Hall competition, 4 The Widow's Mite,' in 1847, 'The Tribe of Benjamin seizing the Daughters of Shiloh,' in 1848, and Isabella,' in 1849. While a student in the Academy schools, his taste had tacitly rebelled against the routine conventions of Academic teaching, and he and his friends, Holman Hunt and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and other young painters, formed what they termed, half in jest, half in earnest, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. For a short time the artists tried to enforce their views by the pen as well as the brush, in a short-lived periodical, The Germ, or Art and Poetry, which appeared in 1850. Mr. Millais was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1853, and became R.A. in December, 1863. He exhibited : — 4 The Order of Release ' 1853 'Autumn Leaves' ....... 1856 4 The Black Brunswicker ' 1861 ' Rosalind and Celia,' and ' Souvenir of Velasquez' . 1868 4 The Gambler's Wife ' 1869 4 The Boyhood of Raleigh ' 1870 4 Chill October,' and ' Yes or No ? ' . . . . 1871 * Flowing to the River,' and ' Flowing to the Sea' . 1872 4 New-laid Eggs' 1873 4 The North-West Passage ' 1874 4 The Fringe of the Moor,' and 4 No ! ' . . . 1875 4 Over ihe Hills and Far Away ' 1876 4 The Sound of Many Waters,' and 4 Yes V . . 1877 4 The Princes in the Tower ' ..... 1878 4 Portrait of Mr. Gladstone' 1879 4 Portrait of the Artist,' 4 Portrait of Mr. Bright' . 1880 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 121 1 The Earl of Beaconsfield ' 1 88 1 ' Cardinal Newman ' ...... 1882 * The Marquis of Salisbury ' 1883 'An Idyll, 1745,' and 'Henry Irving, Esq.' . . 1884 « The Ruling Passion,' and ' Orphans ' 1885 'The Marquis of Hartington,' 'The Earl of Rosebery,' and 'Mercy— St. Bartholomew's Day, 1572' • 1887 'Murtly Moss, Perthshire' ..... 1888 ' The Old Garden ' 1889 ' The Moon is up, and yet it is not Night 5 . . 1890 ' Lingering Autumn,' and ' Glen Birnam ' . . 189 1 ' Halcyon Weather,' ' The Little Speedwell's Darling Blue ' . 1892 'John Hare, Esq. 5 ....... 1893 An exhibition of the artist's works was held at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1886. He was decorated with the Legion of Honour in 1878. In 1881 he was appointed a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery in place of the late Dean Stanley, and in 1882 was elected a Foreign Associate of the Academie des Beaux-Arts. In 1885 he was made a Baronet on the recommendation of Mr. Gladstone. Sir J. E. Millais is married to Euphemia Chalmers, daughter of George Gray, Esq., of Bowerswell, Perth, N.B. Men of the Time. GEORGE MORLAND. George Morland was the son of Henry Robert Morland, a portrait painter in crayons and an engraver in mezzotint- He was born on June 26, 1763, and was instructed in his art by his father ; his subjects were generally animals, or of a domestic character, and all his pictures are executed with extreme facility. 122 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Morland died on October 29, 1804, in a sponging- house in Eyre Street, Coldbath Fields, in his forty-first year. His death was hastened by dissipation. He had married the sister of James Ward, R.A. . . . Mrs. Morland, who had separated from her husband, survived him only a few days. Morland exhibited altogether, at the Royal Academy, between 1779 and 1804, 36 pictures, omitting thirteen years of the interval. The pictures varied much in their subjects ; the first, exhibited in 1779, is called in the catalogue ' A Drawing, with a poker ; ' the last, in 1804, is termed ' A Landscape, with hounds in full chase.' In 1 781 he exhibited ' A Hovel, with asses and only one picture, exhibited in 1797, is called * Pigs/ The 'Inside of a Stable* was exhibited in 1791, and it is spoken of by several writers as his masterpiece. National Gallery Catalogue. All that could die of this extraordinary painter, I find, is dead. His works must doubtless live for ever. Of his particular merits in imitative art, it may be observed that he was the first (or at least, among our own countrymen, by far the most eminent) of those who have given the true spirit and character of the British oak, as well as the form and action of all our most familiar animals. He shrank from no difficulty ; disdained nothing that was natural and picturesque ; and would never risk truth, but would rather give 20 guineas to have a cat stolen for him, than presume to paint one from an uncertain remembrance. He some- times leaves the truth unfinished, but never violated ; and scorned to please a depraved imagination by fantastic BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 123 pretences of surpassing that which, as it is, no man can equal. His lights and shadows are mild, moderate and diffusive. The whole together rests easy upon the eye, and pleases a correct taste as much as it would had it surprised a vicious one more. He is generally acknowledged to have spent all the time in which he did not paint, in drink- ing, and in the meanest dissipations ; and a rabble of carters, hostlers, butchers' men, smugglers, poachers and postillions, were constantly in his company, and frequently in his pay. The only character likely to bear a parallel with Morland's seems to be that of Adrian Brauwer, a Flemish painter, who lived in the beginning of the six- teenth century. Morland's wife only survived him three days, dying on November 2, 1804. Both were interred in one grave in the burying ground belonging to St. James's Chapel, Tottenham Court Road. The Gentleman s Magazine, November, 1804. WILLIAM JOHN MULLER. William John Muller was born of a German father at Bristol in 181 2 ; his father was curator of the Bristol Museum. Muller became the pupil of his townsman, J. B. Pyne, the landscape painter, and displayed his ability in the art at an early age ; he found a generous patron in Mr. Acraman, of Bristol. In 1833 and 1834 he made a first tour upon the Con- tinent of Europe, and in 1838 started upon a long and arduous journey through Greece and Egypt, ascending the Nile beyond the Cataracts ; he settled in London after his 124 ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE return in 1839. In 1843 he accompanied Sir Charles Fellowes on his expedition to Lycia ; he returned to London in the following year. Many sketches and pictures of Oriental manners and scenery were the result of these journeys ; five were exhibited at the Royal Academy, and two at the British Institution, in 1845, but Miiller did not long survive to enjoy his growing reputation ; he died at Bristol, of disease of the heart, on September 8 of that year, at the early age of 33. He exhibited only sixteen pictures at the Royal Academy. His sketches and pictures were sold at Messrs. Christie, Manson & Wood's, in 1846, realising ^4,360. National Gallery Catalogue. L. MUNTHE. Ludwig Muxthe was born at Aaroen, near Bergen, Norway, March 11, 1841. He is a landscape painter, self- taught in Diisseldorf, whither he w r ent in 1861 ; he has visited Belgium, Holland, France, Scandinavia, and Italy. He paints chiefly autumn and winter scenes. Miinthe has received the following honours : — Gold Medals, Berlin 1872, London 1876 ; Paris, 1st class, 1878 \ Legion of Honour, 1878 • Order of Leopold, 1875 ; Member of Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam Academies ; Swedish Court Painter, 1875. Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings. Some of his principal works are : — 'Winter Scene' 1869 * Winter Landscape.' Kunsthalle, Hamburg . . 1870 'Winter Landscape.' Provincial Museum, Hanover . 187 1 « Winter Scene ' 1878 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 125 * Autumn Landscape.' Christiania Gallery . . 18S2 * Potato Harvest,' 4 Cows in the Meadow,' ' Sunset,' and 4 Winter in Norway ' ..... 1883 4 Winter Twilight.' W. H. Vanderbilt, New York . Invariable in subject and in effect as M. Munthe's works certainly are, they always differ from each other by some variety of natural incident, or the special development of some particular excellence in technique. All this artist does is marked by the best characteristics of a school of painting which is thoroughly well trained and solidly skilful, without any great personality or special charm M. Miinthe has the sentiment of cold and snow and angry sunsets at his brushes' ends, and he is never weary of expressing it. It would profit him — and us, too — now and then to vary his theme ; but it must be admitted that, within these limits, he is an able and attractive painter, and is therefore justified in doing exactly as he will. Alice Meynell, Magazine of Art \ vol. 5. PATRICK NASMYTH. Patrick Nasmyth was born at Edinburgh in 1786. He was the son and pupil of Alexander Nasmyth, the landscape painter, and painted in a similar style. When about twenty years of age he settled in London, where he died, in South Lambeth, August 7, 1831. Patrick Nasmyth has been called the English Hobbema ; his landscapes are simple in subject, with much detail of execution, but for- cible in effect ; one of his principal works is a ' View of Windsor Castle ; ' another is a 1 View in Hampshire/ in 126 ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE the possession of Thomas Baring, Esq., M.P. Owing to an accident which happened to his right hand in his youth, he was in the habit of painting with his left. National Gallery Catalogue. He died at Lambeth during a thunderstorm, which, at his own desire, he was raised in his bed to behold ; thus exhibiting ' the ruling passion strong in death.' Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers. ERSKINE NICOL, A.R.A. (Retired). Erskine Nicol was born at Leith, Scotland, in 1825, and received his art education in the Trustees' Academy, Edinburgh, under Sir William Allan and Mr. Thomas Duncan. In 1846 he went to Ireland, where he stayed three or four years. Returning to Edinburgh and exhibit- ing for some time, he was elected a Member of the Royal Scottish Academy. In 1862 he settled in London, and contributed regularly to the Royal Academy, of which body he was elected an Associate in 1866. His principal pictures are : — * Notice to Quit' 1862 ' Among the Old Masters,' and ' Waiting for the Train ' 1864 ' Both Puzzled,' and 1 Missed it ' .... 1866 ' Waiting at the Cross Roads ' 1868 * A Disputed Boundary ' . . . . . . 1869 * On the Look-out ' 1871 ■ Bothered ' 1872 1 Pro Bono Publico,' * Steady Johnnie,' and * Past Work ' 1873 Always tell the Truth,' and < The Sabbath Day ' . 1875 1 A Storm at Sea,' and 4 Looking out for a Safe Invest- ment 9 1876 « His Legal Adviser ' 1877 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 127 1 The Lonely Tenant of the Glen,' and ' The Missing Boat' 1878 * Interviewing their Member ' ..... 1879 Since this date Mr. Nicol has exhibited only four pictures — water colours — at the Academy, 1 A Screw loose in the Lease,' in 1885; 1 A' ae '00'?' ( Ou ay! A' ae "oo," in 1886; 'No place like Home,' in 1887; and 'George Skene Keith, Esq., M.D.,' in 1893. Mr. Nicol entered on the Retired List of the Royal Academy in 1885, on account of ill health. Men of the Time. ACHILLE JULES NOEL. Achille Jules Noel, a French landscape and marine painter, was born at Quimper in 181 5. His works first appeared at the Salon in 1840, and he was awarded a medal in 1853. He died in Paris in 188 1. As one of his best works we may name 1 The Arrival of the Diligence at Quimper in the time of the Directory.' The following pictures are in the French public collections : — 'View of Brest Harbour.' In the Museum at Besan£on 1840 'Sea Piece.' In the Museum at Nantes . . . 1840 'Two Landscapes.' In the Museum at Bordeaux. Ott ley's Dictionary of Recent and Living Painters and Engravers. JOHN PETTIE, R.A. John Pettie was born in Edinburgh in 1839, and began his course of regular art studies, at the age of sixteen, in the schools of the Trustees' Academy, under Robert Scott 128 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Lauder, R.S.A. Among his fellow students were William Quiller Orchardson, Peter Graham, and John MacWhirter. Varied and large was the capacity possessed by this little knot of learners, and it is pleasant to know that the ambition which must have inspired them has, in the case of each one of the four, been crowned with the honours of the English Academy. The first public appearances of Mr. Pettie were made early in the seven years of his student- ship, but were confined to Edinburgh until 1861, when he exhibited his first Royal Academy work, ' The Armourers.' In the succeeding year he closed his Edinburgh noviciate, and followed his picture to London, since when, not a season has passed without the contribution of one or more of his canvases to the principal show of the English art- world. Like many young artists, he began by succumbing to the facile attractions of Cavaliers and Roundheads, but soon passed from the banalites of those hackneyed per- sonages to something fresher and more individual. ' What d'ye lack, Madam ? What d'ye lack ? ' was exhibited at Trafalgar Square in 1862, and represented a gay fifteenth- century apprentice pressing his wares upon ladies after the manner so vividly described in Scott's ' Fortunes of Nigel.' ' The Trio ' and ' The Tonsure ' next appeared ; and, in 1864, Mr. Pettie produced his first work at once serious in subject and important in size and manner — ' George Fox refusing to take the Oath at Holker Hall, a.d. 1663;' this was followed, in 1865, by 'A Drumhead Court Martial,' which gained for the painter a considerable increase of reputation. In 1866 his ' Arrested for Witchcraft' decided the Academy to elect the young painter to the Associateship ; BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 129 and among his pictures of the year following this first award of honour, may be mentioned ' Treason,' an admira- ble bit of rich low-toned colour and dramatic intensity, in which the conspirators lean, plotting across a table. In 1867 was painted 'The Doctor;' in 1868 came 'Pax Vobiscum,' ' Tussle with a Highland Smuggler,' and 'The Rehearsal ;' 1869, 'The Disgrace of Cardinal Wolsey,' and 'The Gambler's Victim;' 1870 produced "Tis Blythe May- Day,' and 'Touchstone and Audrey' — the quaint and ungainly lovers of ' As you like it ' being specially adapted to Mr. Pettie's love of the drolly-picturesque or sympathetic-grotesque. In 1871, 'The Pedlar,' 'The Love- song,' and 'Scene in the Temple Gardens,' appeared : 'The Gipsy's Oak ' and ' Terms to the Besieged ' were the work of 1872. 'Sanctuary' and 'Midnight Watch,' in 1873; 'Juliet and Friar Lawrence,' 'A State Secret,' and 'Ho ! Ho ! Ho!' in 1874. The following year was that of Mr. Petties election to the full membership of the Royal Academy ; in this, as in the Associateship, he distanced, by two years, the one of his contemporaries and fellow- students — Mr. Orchardson — whose aims and character- istics accorded most nearly with his own. ' Jacobites, 1745,' was his diploma picture ; and in the same year (1875) he painted 'Scene in Hal o' the Wynd's Smith}." In 1877, 'Hunted Down,' a single figure of a spent fugitive in a wild mountain glen ; ' A Knight of the Seventeenth Century/ a portrait of Mr. William Black, the novelist ; ' A Sword and Dagger Fight ; ' and ' The Threat.' In 1878 'Rob Roy' and 'The Laird ;' and in 1879 came the most notable of all this artist's successes, ' The Death Warrant.' Mr. Pettie is a master of K 130 ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE accessories and texture-painting, and nowhere have his ease and power in this respect been more admirable than in the last-mentioned picture. Magazine of Art, vol. 4. Mr. Pettie died at Hastings on February 21, 1893. ^ ne following are some of his latest exhibited works : — ' His Grace,' and ' Before the Battle ' 1880 ' Her Grace,' and ' Before his Peers ' . . .1881 ' The Palmer,' and i The Duke of Monmouth's Inter- view with James II.' ...... 1882 ' The Ransome,' and ' Dost know this Waterfly ? ' . 1883 < The Vigil' 1884 1 Challenged ' 1885 ' The Musician,' and * The Chieftain's Candlesticks' . 1886 * Two Strings to her Bow,' and ' Scene from Scott's " Peveril of the Peak :" The Appearance of the Countess of Derby in the Golden Room ' . . 1887 * Charles Wyndham as " David Garrick," ' and 'The Traitor' 1888 ' The World went very well then ' 1890 4 Silvia,' and ' The Violinist ' ..... 1891 4 Bonnie Prince Charlie ' ...... 1892 PAUL FALCONER POOLE, R.A., Was born at Bristol in 18 10. The first picture which : e exhibited at the Royal Academy, in 1830, was * The Well : a scene at Naples,' but during seven years from that date his name does not appear in the catalogue. In 1838 he painted 4 The Emigrant's Departure,' and in 1840 ' Hermann and Dorothea at the Fountain.' A picture which he exhibited in 1843, ' Solomon Eagle exhorting the people to repentance during the Plague of London,' BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 131 attracted considerable notice, and was followed, in 1844, by 'The Beleaguered Moors,' and in 1846 by 'The Visita- tion of Sion Monastery.' In 1846 Mr. Poole was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, and the following year he gained a prize of ^300 in the National Competition for historical designs exhibited in Westminster Hall, the subject which he selected being 4 Edward the Third's generosity to the Burgesses of Calais.' In 1848 he exhibited his picture ' Arlete, a peasant girl of Falaise in Normandy, first discovered by Duke Robert le Diable,' and in 1849 a painting in three compartments illustrating scenes from ' The Tempest.' The charac- teristics which distinguish most of his later works were noticeable in his painting of 'The Messenger announcing to Job the Irruption of the Sabaeans and the Slaughter of his Servants,' exhibited in 1850, and his 'Goths in Italy,' exhibited in 1851. His subsequent pictures include : — ' The May Queen preparing for the Dance, 1 Marina singing to her Father Pericles' 1 The Song of the Troubadours J ' The Seventh Day of the Decameron ' ' The Conspirators — Midnight Meeting ' ' A Field Conventicle ' 4 The last Scene in King Lear ' * The Escape of Glaucus and lone ' . and 1852 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 i860 Academician, In i860 Mr. Poole was elected a Royal and contributed annually to the Royal Academy exhibition for several years, sending three pictures in 1864, of which the most notable was ' Lighting the Beacon on the Coast of Cornwall at the appearance of the Spanish Armada.' Among his last works were ' Ezekiel's Vision,' exhibited in 132 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE i S 7 5 , and eventually selected for the National Gallery from a bequest made by the artist ; ' The Meeting of Oberon and Titania,' in 1876 ; 'The Dragon's Cavern,' in 1877 ; ' Solitude,' and 4 Smithfield : the Morning after the Burning of Anne Ascue for Heresy — looking for Relics,' in 1878 ; and 'Imogen before the Cave of Belarius,' in 1879. ^ n 1878 Mr. Poole was elected a member of the Institute of Painters in Water Colours. He died on September 22, 1879. National Gallery Catalogue, JAMES BARKER PYNE. [ames Barker Pyne was born in Bristol, December 5, 1800, and died in London, July 29, 1870. He was edu- cated as a lawyer, but determined to devote himself to art, and at the age of thirty-five he settled in London. In 1842 he was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, and after that date exhibited only once in the Academy, where he had previously contributed six land- scapes. In 1838 he published 'Windsor and its Environs ; ' ' The English Lake District ' in 1853, and in 1858 ' The J ,ake Scenery of England.' Pyne exhibited in all 229 paintings, chiefly river and lake subjects. His 'Bay of Naples,' and two water-colour drawings, are in the South Kensington Museum. Men of the Reign. Next to Turner, we know of none of our artists who brings so much of the poetry of nature into his pictures as does Mr. Pyne ; and, like his great prototype, he is unrivalled for his skill in giving light and air to his painting. Art Journal, 1854. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 133 BRITON RIVIERE, R.A. Briton Riviere was born in London, August 14, 1840, being the son of Mr. W. Riviere, who was the head of the Drawing School at Cheltenham College, and after- wards a teacher of drawing at Oxford. Briton Riviere entered the latter University, and took his B.A. degree in 1867, and that of M.A. in 1873. T ne first pictures he exhibited were home rural scenes, as ' Rest from Labour/ and ' Sheep on the Cotswolds/ in the Royal Academy in 1858, and, in the next year, ' On the Road to Glouces- ter Fair.' From this date till 1864 he was absent from the Academy as an exhibitor, but in the latter year he sent 'Iron Bars' and 'Romeo and Juliet.' Among his subsequent works are : — 4 The Poacher's Nurse,' 4 Strayed from the Flock,' and 4 The Long Sleep ' 1866 4 The Prisoners 1 869 ' A Midsummer Night's Dream,' and 4 Charity ' . . 1870 4 Come back,' and 4 Circe and the Friends of Ulysses' 187 1 4 Daniel in the Lion's Den ' ..... 1872 4 Argus,' and 4 All that was left of the Homeward Bound 5 1873 ' Apollo,' and 4 Genius Loci ' . . . . . 1874 4 War Time,' and 4 The Last of the Garrison ' . . 1875 4 A Stern Chase is always a Long Chase,' and 4 Pallas Athene and the Swineherd's Dogs ' . . . 1876 4 Lazarus '........ 1877 4 An Anxious Moment,' 4 Sympathy,' 4 The Ruins of Persepolis,' and 4 Victims ' . .... 1878 4 In manus tuas, Domine,' 4 The Poacher's Widow,' and 4 A Winter's Tale ' 1879 4 The Night Watch,' 4 The Last Spoonful,' and 4 Endy- mion' ........ 1880 4 Envy, Hatred, and Malice,' and 4 Let Sleeping Dogs lie' 1S81 134 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE ' The Magician's Doorway,' 1 Una,' and * Portrait of Miss Potter' 1882 ' The Unclean Spirits entering into the Swine,' ' Old Playfellows,' and ' Giants at Play ' 1883 'Actaeon,' 4 St. Bartholomew's Eve,' ' The King and his Satellites,' and 4 The Enchanted Castle '. . 1884 6 The Sheep Stealer,' ' Vse Victis,' ' After Naseby,' and 'Stolen Kisses' ...... 1885 ' Rizpah,' and < Union is Strength ' . . . . 1886 * An Old World Wanderer,' and ' Jilted' . . . 1887 ' 01 a Fool and his Folly there is no End ' . . 1889 < A Mighty Hunter before the Lord ' . . .1891 ' Dead Hector' 1892 < The King's Libation ' 1893 ' Beyond Man's Footsteps,' and ' Ganymede' . . 1894 Many of these works have been engraved on steel by F. Stackpoole, A.R.A., S. Cousins, R.A., and C. J. Lewis ; and other works have been etched by various hands. Mr. Riviere was elected Associate of the Royal Academy on January 16, 1878, and Royal Academician May 5, 1881. Men of the Time. DAVID ROBERTS, R.A. David Roberts was born at Stockbridge, near Edin- burgh, October 24, 1796, and was apprenticed to a house painter and decorator. At the expiration of his appren- ticeship he devoted himself to scene-painting, and ob- tained employment in 1816 at the Edinburgh Circus at 2$s. a week ; he was afterwards engaged for the Glasgow Theatre. In 1822 Roberts came to London, and was engaged as a scene-painter at Drury Lane Theatre, where, later, Mr. Stanfield became his fellow-labourer in the same depart- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 135 ment. His very great success as a scene-painter led Roberts to try his fortune in the more delicate province of architectural painting in oil, and in this branch of his art also he soon demonstrated extraordinary capacity, and was not long in acquiring a public recognition of his powers. He appeared first as an exhibitor at the Royal Academy in 1826, with a view of ' Rouen Cathedral;' he exhibited also at the British Institution, and more frequently with the Society of British Artists at Suffolk Street ; he was one of the original members and a vice- president of that Society, but had to leave it eventually in order to qualify himself for membership of the Royal Academy. In 1832-33 Roberts made a tour in Spain, which visit was the source, during many years, of some of his most charming sketches 1 and most valuable pictures. In 1835 he exhibited at the Royal Academy a large exterior view of ' The Cathedral of Burgos,' and painted the small interior of the same cathedral. Roberts made many journeys on the Continent of Europe, and in 1838-39 undertook an arduous and extensive tour in the East, which, like his Spanish journeys, was thenceforth the constant source of pictures, including some of his finest works. A more immediate result was a noble series of pub- lished sketches which has spread the painters reputation even to the East. 2 1 A drawing of ' The Great Square of Tetuan,' made by Roberts in 1 S33, was sold to Mr. Bicknell, of Heme Hill, for twenty guineas ; and was afterwards purchased by the Marquis of Hertford, at Mr. Bicknell's sale in 1863, for ^430 I or. - These sketches were exhibited in a room in Regent Street in 1840, and were published on a large scale by Alderman Moon in 1842 and 136 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Among the most remarkable pictures, the result of this Eastern tour, are 4 The Ruins of Baalbec, Mount Lebanon in the Distance,' exhibited at the Academy in 1841, and ' Jerusalem from the South-east, the Mount of Olives,' exhibited in 1845. From 1835 until his death, Roberts's name was but once, in 1839, absent from the Royal Academy catalogues ; he contributed altogether 99 pictures, somewhat more than one- third of his works in oil, to the Royal Academy exhibitions. He painted altogether about 260 oil pictures ; for the first sold he received 50s., for the last ^525. He was elected an Associate of the Academy in 1838, while in the East, and became a full Member in 1841, having earned this dignity by his Spanish pictures chiefly. He died in London, of apoplexy, on the evening of November 25, 1864, in his 69th year. Though Roberts did not attain to a great age, he yet lived long enough to see his early pictures sold at auctions for ten and even twenty times the amount of the origi- nal price fixed by himself. His pictures are nearly ex- clusively architectural, but the purely landscape and figure portions of them have generally an admirable effect also. They are too numerous to mention even a selection of them in a notice of this description. Among the most interesting are some of the very last — those illustrating the following years, under the title, The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Jigypt, and Nubia ; the lithographs drawn by Louis Haghe, and the letterpress of the holy Land by Dr. Croly ; 123 plates in three volumes folio. Egypt and Nubia, with descriptions by Mr. Brockedon, constitute a separate work ; both were published plain and coloured by hand in imitation of the sketches. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 137 more conspicuous architectural monuments of the metro- polis. As remarkable exceptions to his ordinary subjects may be instanced 'The Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus in the year 71/ exhibited at the Academy in 1849 (published in chromo-lithography by Louis Haghe), and the large and magnificent sunset view of Rome from the convent of Sant ? Onofrio, in the Exhibi- tion of 1855, and now permanently placed in the Edinburgh (iallery, to which it was presented by the painter. Many of Roberts's foreign sketches have been published in 'The Landscape Annual/ and other similar publications of the same period ; he received ^15 each for the original draw- ings. 1 The sale of his remaining sketches and drawings, at Christie's, in June, 1865, realised the large amount of National Gallery Catalogue. 1 The following notes from Mr. Henry Bicknell's catalogue of his father's sale in 1863, that is in the painter's lifetime, relating to seven pictures by Roberts, afford interesting materials for the statistics of prices. In the first column are the sums received by the painter, in the second are the amounts realised for the purchaser's estate at the sale : — £ s. d. £ s. d. I. ' The Ruins of Baalbec ; the Portico of the Lesser Temple of the Sun ' (1840) 250 0 0 787 10 0 2. ' Interior of Church of San Miguel, Spain 1 (1841) . 105 0 0 598 10 0 3- 'Tyre' . 150 0 0 367 10 0 4. 'Sidon' . 150 3 0 378 0 0 5- ' A Street in Cairo ' 52 10 0 530 5 0 6. 'Melrose Abbey ' (1844) 40 0 0 273 0 0 7- * Interior of St. Gomar, Lierre, Belgium ' (1850) 300 0 0 1,438 10 0 Totals . ^1,045 0 0 £4 373 5 0 133 ROYAL HOLLOW AY COLLEGE ABRAHAM SOLOMON. Abraham Solomon, subject painter, of Jewish extraction, was born in London in 1824. At the age of thirteen he was sent to a school of art in Bloomsbury, and in the same year (1837) gained the first medal from the Society of Arts. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1839, and in the two following years gained the silver medals of the Antique and Life Schools. He exhibited his first picture, a scene from Crabbe's poem, ' The Courtship of Ditcham,' in 1843 ; ' The Yicar of Wakefield,' in 1847 > an d ten years later, the picture which made him known, ' Waiting for the Verdict' In 1862, the year of his death, he exhibited 'The Lost Found.' He died at Biarritz, where he had gone for the benefit of his health. Men of the Reign. CLARKSON STANFIELD, R.A. Clarkson Stanfield was born at Sunderland, in the county of Durham, in 1793. He commenced life as a sailor, but was still young when he took up painting as a profession. He began his art career as a scene-painter at the Royalty Theatre in Wellclose Square ; and in 1824 he became a member of the Society of British Artists. In 1826 he was engaged as scene-painter at Drury Lane Theatre ; and in 1827 he exhibited a picture at the British Institution, of 4 Wreckers off Fort Rouge,' by which he added a new renown to his great reputation as a scene- painter. He first appeared as an exhibitor at the Royal BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 139 Academy in 1829, with a 'View near Chalons sur Saone which was succeeded in the following year by his fine picture of 'Mount St. Michael, Cornwall.' In 1831 he exhibited i A Storm/ 'Strasburg,' 4 Venice,' and 'A Fisher- man of Honfleur.' In 1832 he exhibited 'The Opening of New London Bridge,' and was this year elected an Associate of the Royal Academy ; in 1835 he became an Academician. In 1836 he exhibited his 'Battle of Tra- falgar,' painted for the Senior United Service Club ; and from that time until his death, on May 18, 1867, with the single exception of 1839, he continued without intermission to adorn the walls of the Academy with a long and un- rivalled series of marine subjects, interspersed occasionally with some important and beautiful works of a more exclu- sively landscape character. As examples of the more remarkable works of Stanfield of both classes, marine and landscape, may be men- tioned : — ' Castello d'Ischia, from the Mole ' .... 1841 ' Isola Bella, Lago Maggiore ' ..... 1842 ' The Castle of Ischia 1843 * The Day after the Wreck. A Dutch East-Indiaman on Shore in the Ooster Schelde ; Zierikzee in the distance' ........ 1844 ' A Dutch Dogger carrying away her Sprit,' and ' II Ponte Rotto, Rome' ...... 1846 ' French Troops (1796) fording the Margra, Sarzana and the Carrara Mountains in the distance ' . 1847 ' Scene on the Maas, near Dort — market people wait- ing for the evening tide ' ..... ^.850 4 The Battle of Roveredo, 1796' . . . .1851 < H.M.S. " The Victory," with the body of Nelson on board, towed into Gibraltar, October 28, 1805, seven days after the Battle of Trafalgar ' . . 1853 < Pic du Midi d'Ossau/ 1854 140 ROYAL HOLLOWAV COLLEGE 1 St. Sebastian, July, 1813 — British troops taking pos- session of the heights and convent of St. Barto- lomeo 1855 * The Abandoned ' 1856 * Port na Spania, near the Giant's Causeway, Antrim, coast of Ireland ' 1857 ' The Fortress of Savona ' 1858 * A Maltese Xebec on the rocks of Punla Mazzo di Procida — a steam tug and Neapolitan boats ren- dering assistance. The island and castle of Ischia in the distance 9 ...... 1859 4 Outward Bound ' i860 k Homeward Bound' ...... 1861 ' The Situation of H.M.S. u The Defence " and her prize " II St. Ildefonso," on the morning following the battle of Trafalgar.' Cadiz and Rota in the distance, with many of the captured ships ashore on the coast between Cadiz and Cape Trafalgar . 1863 Altogether Stanfield exhibited 132 pictures on the walls of the Royal Academy, in 38 exhibitions, extending over 39 years. National Gallery Catalogue. JOHN SYER. John Syer was born at Atherstone, but spent most of his early life at Bristol. His water-colour drawings were bold, free representations of Welsh and English scenery, broad in style, after the manner of David Cox. One of his finest oil pictures is a view at Exeter. Mr. Syer was a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours ; and some years ago he belonged to the Society of British Artists, but resigned his membership in 1875, a ft er his election to the Institute. He died in July, 1885, at Exeter, while on a sketching tour, after a few days' illness, at the age of 70. The Artist, 1885. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES I 4 I CONSTANT TROYON. Constant Troyon, a French landscape and animal painter, was born at Sevres on August 28, 18 10, and passed much of his youth in the porcelain manufactory of that town, intending to make porcelain painting his profession. Some years of study in the atelier of Riocreux, and the observa- tions of nature which he made in the course of several journeys in the most picturesque parts of France, opened to him a more elevated career, and he has since become one of the first landscape and animal painters of France, and truly French in character. It is remarked that a journey which in later years he made in Holland had less influence upon his style than that already established by the rural aspect of his own country. In 1833 he exhibited his first pictures, ' La Maison Colas ' (at Sevres), ' The Fete at Sevres/ and ' A Nook in the Park at St. Cloud ; ' and he long continued to produce a series of views in the neigh- bourhood of Paris, which have fallen into the possession of Messrs. Van Praet, Goldsmith, Moreau, the Comtesse Lehon, and other collectors. He has also produced many larger works of a noble character. Some of them have been engraved, amongst others, 1 A Limosin Fair,' 1838: < The Watering Place,' 1839 , 'The Bathers,' 1842 ; 'The Cattle Market,' 1850; 'Oxen ploughing' (purchased by Government), and ' The Valley of La Touque, in Nor- mandy ' (both exhibited, with others, at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1855) ; 'The Return to the Farm,' and 4 The Departure for Market,' 1859. Troyon is one of the painters of the nineteenth century whose works have become well known in many countries. 142 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE As an animal painter of the first order, his pictures have been well appreciated in this country, and his reputation on the continent and in America has always been of the highest standard. As an artist who has thoroughly mastered his metier, Troyon is a very satisfactory painter to study. His subjects are well conceived and well carried out ; his drawing is correct, the result of knowledge acquired by long and careful study ; his colour is always fine, and frequently this quality in his pictures rises to the very highest point reached by any animal painter. Troyon is, therefore, one of the few masters admired by the lesser learned as much as by the connoisseur. He painted with no tricks ; his results were gained by the legitimate means of hard work, and he never allowed a picture to leave his studio until he had, as it were, said his last word on it. His care in the choice of a subject is a standing lesson to the painters who have learned the half truth that all nature is beautiful, but who have missed the whole truth that in some instances nature is more refined than in others, and that selection is absolutely necessary to every one who claims to be an artist. Troyon's experience at first was rather unfortunate, for his father being one of the artists employed at Sevres, the young artist acquired many of the conventional tricks of the porcelain painters, and it was a number of years before he rid himself of their teaching. After his father, his chief instructor was Camille Roqueplan, an artist little known nowadays, except to connoisseurs. Roqueplan took a fancy to Troyon, and he introduced him to Theodore Rousseau, to Diaz, and to Jules Dupre. Troyon never seems to have lacked friends, and Napoleon III. was his patron and did BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 143 all he could to help him, although the latter years of the artist's life were unhappy. He died on March 2c, 1865. Troyon painted pictures for home. To appreciate one of his masterpieces it must be seen in its place in a recess by itself near a window. Rest there for a quarter of an hour, and study the picture, and the attractiveness of Troyon's composition, the charm of his colour, and the strength of his workmanship cannot fail to impress the un- tutored as well as the most highly trained. Art Journal, 1893. The happy fidelity with which M. Troyon depicts animals of various kinds has obtained for him amongst his own countrymen the pseudonym of ' the La Fontaine of Painting.' He obtained a third class medal in 1838, a second class in 1840, and three first class in 1846, 1848, and 1855, respec- tively. He was elected a Member of the Academy of Amsterdam in 1847, and received the decoration of the Legion of Honour in 1849. H e died in 1865. Ottley's Dictionary of Recent and Living Painters and Engravers, JOSEPH MALLORD WILLIAM TURNER, R.A. Joseph Mallord William Turner was born on April 2 3> I 775? m Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, where his father carried on the business of a hairdresser ; he was christened in St. Paul's, Covent Garden, in May of that year. The friendship of Girtin, the water-colour painter, and the privilege of copying a collection of drawings in the posses- sion of Dr. Monro, of the Adelphi, gave facilities for the 144 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE development of the young painter's talent at an early age. Turner entered as a student of the Royal Academy in 1789, and he exhibited a drawing of Lambeth Palace in the following year ; in 1799 ne was elected an Associate, and in April, 1802, he became a Member of the Academy. In this year he visited France and Switzerland. In 1807 he was elected Professor of Perspective in the Royal Academy, succeeding Edwards, an Associate of the Academy, who had for many years filled the office of Teacher of Perspective in that Institution. In 1807 also he began to publish his 1 Liber Studiorum,' or book of sketches in imitation of Claude's * Liber Veritatis ; ' and for a few years during this period of his life he painted in emulation of the style of Claude. In 181 2 he built a house in Queen Anne Street West, No. 47, which he retained unto his death, and in which he had a gallery, where he for many years exhibited some of his pictures. Turner visited Italy three times : — in 18 19, in 1829, and about 1840. After a life of almost unrivalled success, and an industry unsurpassed, this great landscape painter died unmarried, and under an assumed name, in an obscure lodging at Chelsea, December 19, 1851. He was buried by the side of Sir Joshua Reynolds, in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral. His large fortune, both in pictures and in funded property, he bequeathed to his country :— his finished pictures to the nation, on condition that the Government should provide suitable accommodation for them within ten years ; and his funded property towards the establishment of an institution for the benefit of decayed artists. 1 1 The will was disputed, but, in accordance with a compromise between the parties in litigation, it was decided by an order of the BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 145 Turner's career comprehends, independently of his imitations of Claude, three distinct styles, in the first of which, previously to 1802, he was more remarkable as a water-colour painter ; his early drawings are conspicuous for their careful completion, subdued colour, and effective light and shade ; his earliest oil pictures resemble those of Wilson in style. In middle life, from about 1802 until about 1830. the date of his second visit to Rome, he was as distinguished for a masterly and vigorous execution and an unrivalled brilliancy of colouring ; the majority of his greatest works belong to this time, from his 1 Calais Pier,' 1803, to the 'Ulysses deriding Polyphemus,' 1829. During the last twenty years of his life, light, with all its prismatic varieties, seems to have chiefly engrossed his attention, yet some few of his finest works belong to this period, as his ' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage,' exhibited in 1832, and the 'Temeraire,* exhibited in 1839. His later pictures are painted on a white ground. Specimens of all his styles are numerous, independent of book illustrations and other small water- colour drawings, for Turner was a large contributor to the annual exhibitions of the Royal Academy, having exhibited 257 drawings and pictures on its walls, from 1790 to 1850 inclusive. Turner's pictures, though numerous, do not often appear Court of Chancery, dated March 19, 1856, that all pictures, drawings, sketches, finished or unfinished, by the hand of Turner, should belong to the nation, and that all engravings should belong to the next of kin. The finished pictures thus acquired for the National Gallery amount to about one hundred in number. See The Turner Gallery : a series of sixty engravings from the principal works of J. Af. W. Turner* With a memoir and illustrative text by A\ N, IVornum, &c. P'olio. London, J. S. Virtue, 1859-1862. L 146 ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE in public sales, owing in a great measure to the large number of them now permanently located in the National Gallery ; but when examples do occur, they seem to realise constantly increasing prices. At Mr. Elhanan BicknelPs remarkable sale at Christie's, in 1863, there were sold, besides drawings, ten oil pictures by Turner, and the enhancement of price attained on the original sums paid by Mr. Bicknell to the painter is very noteworthy, as will be seen from the following tabular statement. Subject of Picture Size in inches Purchased for Sold in 1863 f° r 1. ' Ivy Bridge, Devon 5 . 2. ' Calder Bridge, Cum- berland ' 3. 4 PortRuysdael' (1827) 4. ' Palestrina' (1830) 5. * Helvoetsluys ; The "City of Utrecht" (64) going to Sea ' (1832) . 6. * Antwerp ; Van Goyen looking for a Sub- ject ' (1833) . 7. ' Wreckers, Coast of Northumberland ' (1834) . 8. 'Ehrenbreitstem'(i835) 9. 4 Venice, The Giudecca, &c.' (1841) . 10. ' Venice, The Campo Santo' (1842) Totals . 36 X48 36x48 36 X48 55X98 36x48 36x48 36x48 36 x 4 8 24x36 24x36 £ s. d 283 10 0 285 15 0 3 J 5 0 0 1,050 0 0 283 10 0 315 0 0 288 15 0 401 1 9 269 10 0 262 10 0 £ s. d 924 O O 525 O O 1,995 0 0 1,995 0 ° 1,680 0 0 2,635 i° 0 1,984 10 0 1,890 0 0 1,732 10 0 2,000 0 0 3,750 " 9 17,261 10 0 National Gallery Catalogue* BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES 147 The following are some of Turner's greatest works : — * Jason in search of the Golden Fleece.' In the National Gallery 1802 4 Calais Pier.' In the National Gallery .... 1803 ' The Shipwreck.' In the National Gallery . . . 180$ 4 The Goddess of Discord in the Garden of the Hesperides.' In the National Gallery 1806 ' The Sun rising in Mist.' In the National Gallery . . 1807 1 The Wreck of the " Minotaur." ' In the possession of the Earl of Yarborough ....... 1807 4 A Frosty Morning, Sunrise.' In the National Gallery . 181 3 ' Dido building Carthage.' In the National Gallery . 1815 ' Crossing the Brook.' In the National Gallery . . 181 5 1 Bay of Baiee.' In the National Gallery .... 1823 ' Port Ruysdael' 1827 * Ulysses deriding Polyphemus.' In the National Gallery. 1829 * Caligula's Palace and Bridge.' In the National Gallery . 1831 ' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.' In the National Gallery . 1832 ' Van Tromp's Shallop entering the Scheldt.' In the Royal Holloway College ....... 1832 1 Lake Avernus, the Fates, and the Golden Bough.' In the National Gallery ...... 1834 * The Plighting " Temeraire " tugged to her last berth to be broken up.' In the National Gallery . , . 1839 JAMES WEBB. Mr. James Webb, who died in March 1895. was well known for his seascapes and coast scenes. What was probably his most important picture was that entitled ' Brighton in the Season,' which was sold to an American purchaser for a very large sum. Mr. Webb was ail occasional exhibitor in the Royal Academy. J 48 ROYAL HOLLO WAY COLLEGE THEODOR ALEXANDER WEBER. Theodor Alexander Weber, a marine and landscape painter, was born in Leipsic, May n, 1838. He was a pupil in Berlin of Krause, and went in 1856 to Paris, where he studied under Joabey, and soon acquired great reputation. He went to London in 1870, and settled in Brussels in 1874. M. Weber is a Member of the Societas Artis et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, and other European Art Societies. He has gained medals at Rouen, 1866; Havre, 1868; London, 1871 ; Philadelphia, 1876. His principal works are : — ' Mont Orgueil in Jersey.' k Sunrise on Coast of Brittany.' 4 Rock of Leide ' 1866 4 After the Storm.' ' Ebb at Ostend ' 1875 4 Shipwreck in Bay of Douarnenez.' In the Evrard Gallery, London. 1 Arrival of a French Mail Ship at Dover.' In the Willis Gallery, London. ' In Harbour at Ostend.' Hauff Gallery, Paris. ' Twilight on Seashore.' Theim Collection, Berlin. Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings. INDEX. Artist s W ame No. OF Picture BlOG. NOTICE Page Ansdell, Richard, R.A. 48 65 Brett, John, A. R.A 49 67 Burgess, John Bagnold, R.A. 5 68 Collins, William, R.A. 42 70 Constable, John, R.A 44 72 Conti, Tito 57/ 58, 1 59' 73 Cooke, Edward William, R.A. . 7, 5° 74 Cooper, Thomas Sidney, R.A. 45, 76 1 75 Creswick, Thomas, R.A. 30, 33 76 Crome, John . . . 6 77 Dawson, Henry 1 79 Dawson, Henry T. .... 18 Ellis, Edwin ..... 72 1 82 Elmore, Alfred, R.A 35 82 Eaed, Thomas, R.A. 22 04 Fielding, Copley 54' 85 Fildes, Luke, R.A 32 86 Frith, William Powell, R.A. 20 90 GAINSBOROUGH, THOMAS, R.A. 53 1 9i Girardot, Edine Gustave . Dining Hall Graham, Peter, R.A 19 94 Hardy, Frederick Daniel . 67 1 95 Hardy, James 27 Hodgson, John Evan, R.A. . 15 96 Holl, Frank, R.A 17 97 1 On the Screens. i=;o ROYAL HOLLOWAY COLLEGE Artist's Name Holland, James Hook, James Clarke, R.A. . Horsley, John Callcott, R.A. Landseer, Sir Edwin, R.A. . Leader, Benjamin Williams, A.R Leifchild, Henry Stormonth Leighton, E. Blair Le Jeune, J. Henry, A.R.A. Linnell, John, Sen. Long, Edwin, R.A. . Maclise, Daniel, R.A. . MacWhirter, John, R.A. Mann, J. H. S. Millais, Sir John Everett, Bart Morland, George . Muller, William John . Munthe, L. Xasmyth, Patrick . Nicol, Erskine, A.R.A. . Noel, Jules Petite, John, R.A. . Poole, Paul Falconer, R.A. Pyne, James Barker Riviere, Briton, R.A. Roberts, David, R.A. Solomon, Abraham . Stanfield, Clarkson, R.A. Syer, John Troyon, Constant . Turner, Joseph Mallord Wil Webb, James Weber, Theodor Alexander R.A R.A No. OF Picture BlOG. Notice Page, 2, 66 1 IOO 3* IOI 34 I02 36 IO4 16, 21 IO6 — I08 65 1 IO9 62 1 I IO 41 I I I II, 13 113 29 Il6 4, 56 1 Il8 26 9, 14 119 46, 73/ 74 1 121 123 8 124 61 1 125 25 126 69,' 71 1 127 37 127 75,' 77 1 I30 28 132 10, 39 133 23, 47 134 24 138 12, 40, 68 1 138 3i> 70 1 140 3 141 43 143 52, 60 1 147 5i 148 1 On the Screens. PKINTRI) BT SPQTTISWOOPK AM) (X)., NF.tV STREET 8QUA.RJB LONDON GETTY CENTER LIBRARY